Mulesing
29 Mar 2007
I don't believe in docking dogs.
However, I'm not so sure about mulesing.
What I do know about mulesing is that it ain't pretty, but if it isn't practiced, millions of sheep a year would be eaten alive from the inside out by maggots. I can't imagine a worse suffering for an animal, can you?
I beleive that a lot of the pressure being put on the Australian Wool Industry bodies from the international community is from people who really don't know that to ban mulesing without a viable alternative would lead to 85% of sheep in Australia dying from flystrike.
And what I do know about farmers is that in my experience, they do care about the welfare of their animals, even if it is motivated by monetary gain.
What I think I do know (I can only go by what I've read and heard in the media - and that's all manipulated to sell a point of view) is that there are no viable alternatives at the present time, although there is a lot of research being carried out to try and develop a practical alternative.
One of the alternatives is a protein which stops the growth of wool around the area affected by flystrike.
When an alternative is available, Australian farmers will use it.
Am I being naiive? If you know more about mulesing (I bet you do Lara) then tell me, please, because I'd like to be able to see a balanced view.
However, I'm not so sure about mulesing.
What I do know about mulesing is that it ain't pretty, but if it isn't practiced, millions of sheep a year would be eaten alive from the inside out by maggots. I can't imagine a worse suffering for an animal, can you?
I beleive that a lot of the pressure being put on the Australian Wool Industry bodies from the international community is from people who really don't know that to ban mulesing without a viable alternative would lead to 85% of sheep in Australia dying from flystrike.
And what I do know about farmers is that in my experience, they do care about the welfare of their animals, even if it is motivated by monetary gain.
What I think I do know (I can only go by what I've read and heard in the media - and that's all manipulated to sell a point of view) is that there are no viable alternatives at the present time, although there is a lot of research being carried out to try and develop a practical alternative.
One of the alternatives is a protein which stops the growth of wool around the area affected by flystrike.
When an alternative is available, Australian farmers will use it.
Am I being naiive? If you know more about mulesing (I bet you do Lara) then tell me, please, because I'd like to be able to see a balanced view.
posted by knitabulous at Thursday, March 29, 2007 |
