The Federal Government is ramping up its involvement in the heated mulesing issue, sending a lengthy letter to retailers in the UK and US, providing graphic detail about why farmers have been forced to mules and the work done by industry so far to phase out the practice.
Federal Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, has written to Adidas, Hugo Boss and Marks and Spencer in the UK, and Gap, Levi Strauss and Polo Ralph Lauren in the US thanking them for their support of Australian wool in his opening sentence.
Mr Burke goes on to tell the influential retailers that while the Government appreciates community concerns about mulesing and is keen to explore alternative practices, many who criticise mulesing “overlook the reason for developing the practice”.
“An independent study has shown that up to three million sheep would be at risk of painful death from blowfly attack, or fly-strike, if mulesing were to stop without an alternative measure,” Mr Burke writes.
“The Australian Government, the industry and the community will not accept this outcome.
“I note in particular that the Australian Veterinary Association and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) recognise the need for surgical mulesing, where there is no alternative, to protect sheep from blowfly attack and are very
supportive of the Australian wool industry’s commitment to finding alternatives to surgical mulesing.
From The Land, May 29, 2008.
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