NSW Mandates Pain Relief for Live Lamb Cutting, But Fails on Lamb Welfare and Trade
NSW legislates new animal welfare laws in 2026
11 May 2026 – FOUR PAWS Australia acknowledges the NSW Government’s decision to mandate pain relief during live lamb cutting (also known as mulesing) as part of new animal welfare laws.
However, the reform fails lambs and risks Australia’s trade access by ignoring the core issue: the continued use of live lamb cutting.
The Government has acknowledged that animal welfare is increasingly important to trade and export markets. But mandating limited pain relief does not respond to what global brands and consumers are actually demanding.
Markets are not asking for “better” or “less painful” live lamb cutting, they are rejecting it altogether. European and US brands consider mulesing a deal breaker even when pain relief is used, and Italian wool buyers have made clear that wool from mulesed sheep is no longer accepted by their customers.
“Markets have already moved.”
Under this new mandate most lambs subjected to live lamb cutting receive only a topical anaesthetic spray applied after the wound is inflicted, meaning that lambs will still feel every single cut.
“When the public hears that pain relief is mandatory, they expect lambs are protected during the procedure. That is simply not the reality.”
FOUR PAWS emphasises that while multimodal pain relief is the best available option, it is still not sufficient to prevent the pain of live lamb cutting itself. Failing to mandate even this minimum standard highlights the inadequacy of the reform.
It is disingenuous to present this policy as a solution to animal welfare concerns or trade concerns.
By focusing on pain relief rather than a phase-out, NSW risks entrenching a practice that is both inherently cruel for lambs and increasingly incompatible with global supply chains. More than 330 international fashion brands have made a commitment to end their use of live lamb cut wool by 2030 with many including global mega brand H&M already reaching that target in 2025.
The only viable pathway to address both lamb welfare and trade access is to end live lamb cutting altogether.
This can be achieved by supporting the transition to plain-bodied sheep, which provides full body protection and removes the need for live lamb cutting entirely.
FOUR PAWS is calling on the NSW Government to commit to a legislated phase-out of live lamb cutting and to provide transitional support for wool producers.
Elise Burgess
Head of CommunicationsFOUR PAWS Australia
GPO Box 2845
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Main Phone: 1800 454 228
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About FOUR PAWS
FOUR PAWS is the global animal welfare organisation for animals under direct human influence, which reveals suffering, rescues animals in need and protects them.
Founded in 1988 in Vienna by Heli Dungler and friends, the organisation advocates for a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding. The sustainable campaigns and projects of FOUR PAWS focus on companion animals including stray dogs and cats, animals in fashion, farm animals, and wild animals – such as bears, big cats, and orangutans – kept in inappropriate conditions as well as in disaster and conflict zones.
With offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, the UK, the USA, and Vietnam as well as sanctuaries for rescued animals in eleven countries, FOUR PAWS provides rapid help and long-term solutions. www.four-paws.org.au