sheep mulesing

[wolgelukkig]

Here in Holland, Europe the media pay much attention to mulesing free merino wool. In Holland we only have a few merino sheep flock so most of the merino wool we buy comes from Australie or New Zealand.

Wikipedia: Mulesing is the removal of strips of wool-bearing skin from around the breech (buttocks) of a sheep to prevent flystrike (myiasis). The wool around the buttocks can retain feces and urine, which attracts flies. The scar tissue that grows over the wound does not grow wool, so is less likely to attract the flies that cause flystrike. Mulesing is a common practice in Australia for this purpose, particularly on highly wrinkled Merino sheep.[1] Mulesing is considered by some to be a skilled surgical task[2] although it may be performed by unskilled persons. Mulesing can only affect flystrike on the area cut out and has no effect on flystrike on any other part of the animal's body.

Fortunately I use fleece from local farmers and when I need merino I buy guaranteed New Zealand merino that is mulesing-free because mulesing is forbidden by law in NZ. Big wool supplyers like Ideen only sell mulesing-free merino. But in Australia it is still a common treatment because giving the animals medicine to prevent flystrike costs 31 cents per animal more. Australia has 30 million sheep and they are not treated as animals but like merchandise and on the internet there are a lot of movies about mulesing and the cruel way the sheep are treated during shearing in Australia. The sheep are beaten in the face, and worse.


I was wondering if that is an issue in other countrys too. 
So my question is: do you fellow felters choose mulesing free merino and how you think about it.

[Pandagirl]

I have never heard of that, but it makes sense in a sanitary way to do it. Obviously, I don't know what kind of Australian merino I've bought. Good to know and ask about. Thanks for sharing

[Shepherdess]

Sheep are not beaten when they are sheared that is a PETA propaganda. The very same people that Kill almost all the animals they take into care. They feel it is better for an animal to bee dead than a pet. Fly strike can not be prevented by using a vaccine or medicine. It's a fly laying eggs in a sheep's flesh. Having had one sheep get this I would not wish it on any living thing. Having said that, musling has been on the way out for quite a while now and is not practiced much anymore. Many Australian farms are now certified as not doing it. Mistreating your animals makes them poor providers. You will always find people that will mistreat animals but it doesn't not mean they all do. I am sorry if this sounds grumpy but I am so tired of PETA lies. They have an add with a supposedly sheared sheep that is half skinned to so w everyone how cruel wool is but on further questioning it is found out it is a prop they had made up.

[wolgelukkig]

Feb 3, 2017 15:15:04 GMT Shepherdess said:

Sheep are not beaten when they are sheared that is a PETA propaganda. The very same people that Kill almost all the animals they take into care. They feel it is better for an animal to bee dead than a pet. Fly strike can not be prevented by using a vaccine or medicine. It's a fly laying eggs in a sheep's flesh. Having had one sheep get this I would not wish it on any living thing. Having said that, musling has been on the way out for quite a while now and is not practiced much anymore. Many Australian farms are now certified as not doing it. Mistreating your animals makes them poor providers. You will always find people that will mistreat animals but it doesn't not mean they all do. I am sorry if this sounds grumpy but I am so tired of PETA lies. They have an add with a supposedly sheared sheep that is half skinned to so w everyone how cruel wool is but on further questioning it is found out it is a prop they had made up.

PETA is not the source of the information I have. Your comment does sound grumpy and even more it is not an answer to my question.

[Shepherdess]

Sorry, it is a pet peeve of mine. It may not be your source but that is the original source. It also does not explain why they do it to that particular area of the sheep and no other. It is because that fold in the skin in that area of the body is what attracts flies. They are breeding away from that fold of skin so that it is no longer necessary. I know it sound terrible, and it is, but when it started it was the only way they had to deal with it. It was the lesser of two evils. Fly strike is very nasty. If you give the sheep chemicals to make them toxic to fly larva then you also make it so it is unfit for human consumption. you can not be organic either.

To your question, No I do not think about musling when I choose wool. I know my main source of wool is musling free because it says so on the website but it is not why I buy there. Ideally I would love to buy form a local source but that isn't possible. It is a sad commentary that it is cheaper for me to buy Australian merino from a British source and have it shipped to Canada than it is to buy Canadian wool but that is globalisation. Australia set out to take over the world wool market and they have succeeded. I am glad that more people are getting interested in wool that is not merino. So many breeds are rare now. I hope that the current interest in wool textiles and art continues so we can keep the breeds alive. We are loosing so may farm animal breeds as everyone goes to one bread in each category.

[koffipot]

I no longer buy Merino wool, partly because of mulesing, but also because I prefer to use British wool and as far as possible, buy raw fleece locally, direct from the breeder. Why buy from the other side of the world when there is such a great variety on the doorstep? I have to admit to living in the Yorkshire Dales, where we have an abundance of sheep.

[bonnie]

Oh my goodness. I had no idea about this. I am new to the world of wool. I thought that wool would be totally cruelty free. Oiy!

[Shepherdess]

I wonder if Spanish merino is still available and if it's as fine as the Australian. That is much closer to both of you.

Bonnie it isn't done as much anymore and they are on the way to making it unnecessary. May places will state it is form mulsing free sheep.  World of wool has it on  their website I know.
 

[tracey]

Yes I checked with World of Wool, they said it is mulesing free. This is my supplier.

[zara]

I think another difficulty in Australia is that the sheep heards are so large and spread over large areas, that it is practically impossible to identify fly strike at an early stage on individual animals. Under those conditions, as Ann wrote, mulesing has been seen as the lesser of two evils. I am glad more people are becoming aware of mulesing, and that efforts are being made to move away from the practice (such as breeding merino with fewer skin folds), and that there is an increasing interest in wool from other breeds. But I don't like the PETA propaganda, that has circulated here in Sweden too.

I mainly use wool from Swedish breeds, but also buy merino from World of Wool that imports their merino from mulesing free sources in South Africa and South America.

[Shepherdess]

We have only ever had 2 sheep with fly strike. If I never have to deal with it again it will be to soon.

[zed]

I can't see the info on WoW's site now, but do know it said Mulesed free, I think it is from South America and Africa like Zara says, rather than Australia.

I've had different Merino from wollknoll, possibly Spanish and French, and also Portuguese. I think I had batts though, soft, but hard to compare.

In regards to Peta, they have certainly pulled some ridiculous stunts/spread nasty unforgiveable lies about shearing etc. But also, in regards to them killing more than any other organisation- they 'rehome'(might be to no-kill shelters often) any healthy animals and euthanise ones that can't be treated or saved. This does mean they kill more than any other, but I've also seen how other places stuff healthy animals into gas chambers so it takes them longer to die, often not even in the gas chamber, but slowly afterwards in a skip.

[Shepherdess]

Zed that is so sad. in the USA they only rehome 5% I think it is. Now perhaps that side of thongs is not telling the whole truth either.  They are big on better to be dead than a pet there. It is sad as it turns people off when they lie. better to be truth full and get more people on board I think. I hate factory farms too. I think animals should get outside and eat grass.

[zed]

Yeah, I think another big problem is puppy farms/factories and those stupid 'pure breed' clubs breeding deformed dogs. Why keep producing animals when the ones no one wants are being killed because shelters are too full?

[Shepherdess]

Puppy mills are a problem here too. pure bred is a strange mix of people here. Some breed for the overall well being of the dog and its purpose and some for just exaggerating one trait. some do it for the love of a breed and some to make money.