Debunk the Myths About Live Lamb Cutting of Sheep

Fact or Fiction? Do you know the truth about live lamb cutting (mulesing) in Australia?

Live lamb cutting (mulesing) is a pain-free practice where wool is removed around the buttocks of lambs.

FICTION

The practice is not pain-free. It is not just wool which gets removed, but rather large strips of skin without adequate anaesthesia, which makes it extremely painful for the young lambs.
Read more here.

Live lamb cutting is no longer necessary to save sheep from fly infestation (flystrike).

FACT

Luckily, live lamb cutting isn't necessary since pain-free solutions exist and are available. Read more here.

Flystrike happens when flies lay eggs in the sheep's wrinkles and the hatched maggots bury themselves in the skin and flesh of the sheep.

FACT

These flies are especially attracted by moisture, urine and faeces retained in the animals’ wrinkly skin.

Live lamb cutting always protects sheep from flystrike.

FICTION

Live lamb cutting (mulesing) does not always protect the sheep from flystrike, as the flies can still infest the rest of the sheep’s body.

Pain relief is mandatory in Australia during live lamb cutting.

FICTION

Despite claims that 75% lambs receive ‘pain relief’, a closer look reveals that most are treated with a topical solution, applied post-mutilation. In essence, lambs endure the full extent of the procedure without adequate pain management. Read '7 Crucial Questions About Live Lamb Cutting And Pain Relief'

Merino sheep have so many wrinkles by nature.

FICTION

For over 100 years, Merino sheep have been deliberately bred to have excessive wrinkles to produce more wool. Unfortunately, flies like to lay their eggs in these wrinkles, thus infesting the sheep.

The more wrinkles sheep have, the more wool they produce.

FICTION

Less wrinkly or wrinkle-free sheep are more resistant against flystrike and grow the same amount and same quality of wool as overbred sheep with excessive wrinkles. Hear directly from producers with plain-bodied sheep about this.

Live lamb cutting is a common practice for Merino wool growers worldwide.

FICTION

Australia is the only country in the world where live lamb cutting is still being practiced, while our neighbour New Zealand banned live lamb cutting in 2018.

Live lamb cutting only affects some lambs.

FICTION

The procedure is performed annually without adequate pain relief on over 10 million lambs in Australia, and it does not even solve the problem of flystrike. Flies can still lay eggs in other skin folds on the sheep’s body (so called “'bodystrike').