mulesing What do you think?

[cluckin tractor]

i think people protesting about mulesing dont have the right idea
if you dont know what it is then google it.
mulesing is a matter of life and death to a sheep. with out it it will go through four times asmuch pain and i have seen it. the odd shepp the one gets misssed is definatly worse off.

 

[sune42]

I wish I had never googled that or what it's supposed to prevent.

 

[Mattemma]

I don't think I could do that. I would try to find some alternative to prevent the flystrike if there is any. Atleast this procedure has some purpose as opposed to cosmetic alterations we do on animals/people.

If this were a must I guess I would have to get an animal with it already done,or pay someone to do it.

 

[KristyHall]

this is why I like hair sheep, you con't have to worry about fly strike. but then I don't want wool I want meat and cheese.

 

[Royd]

It looks like an effecient way to deal with a perpetual problem. Can you imagine spending all summer, trimming the backsides of a large herd of sheep?

Apparently, flystrike can happen to any living creature, including humans, as long as the conditions are right.

Just so you don't have to google it, flystrike is when flys lay their eggs and maggots emerge and begin to eat.

 

[WingingIt]

From Wikipedia (for anyone who wants to skip using Google and the images that come up in the results):

Mulesing is a skilled surgical task[1] that involves the removal of strips of wool-bearing skin from around the breech (buttocks) of a sheep to prevent flystrike (myiasis) in regions where it is common.[2]

 

[GallusGal]

While calling it surgical is technically correct, "surgical" elicits imagery of a sterile environment under anesthesia, which is unfortunately not the reality. While post operative analgesia is sometimes employed, there is no legal requirement for it, and it is generally accepted by veterinary organizations and even by practitioners to be a painful experience for the animals. Another Wiki quote: The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries states in the Standard Operating Procedures that, "While the operation causes some pain, no pre or post operative pain relief measures are used." That being said, from what I can gather, post operative analgesics and antibiotics are increasingly popular ESPECIALLY with recent public outcry.

I think we see a lot of conflicts like this in animal agriculture; no one performs procedures like this "just because." Dehorning, debeaking, detoeing, mulesing, etc. can be extremely painful for the animal - and is also done for practical reasons, namely to address problems created by either by how we've bred the animals, how we're raising the animals, or how we're transporting the animals. It's a Catch-22: to maintain adequate productivity and keep up with demand, we do things like breed sheep with excessive skin folds, high wool production, and wool that does not shed on its own, but these exaggerated traits cause serious and possibly even life threatening issues that need to be dealt with - and the method of dealing with it has to be reasonable and economic before humane.

Now, I've volunteered at sanctuaries and been to privately owned hobby collections with large sheep populations, including breeds flystrike is more common in. And those sheep were simply kept clean and sheared and never developed flystrike. However, if you are an industrial operation with a huge herd and are looking to produce wool rather than just have sheep, keeping them clipped short is not practical, so to prevent financial losses...

Personally, my (granted very idealistc/unrealistic) solution is to simply not employ breeds who require painful mutilations to prevent health problems promoted by extreme anatomy. But that would mean either ceasing the usage of wool or accepting much lower yeilds and much higher consumer pricing. Basically: it's not a situation with an easy or practical solution for sheep, farmers, or consumers - which unfortunately is increasingly the case as the demand for animal products rises and intensive farming methods take over traditional farming methods.

 

[cluckin tractor]

people should get more educated about this and show that it does better than bad. then we woulnt have any protesters protesting over something that cannot be easily solved. i dont think people could phase out certian breed as it has taken over 200 years to get the ginetics and the main aim of breeding now days as well as wool quality, body structure, meat quality etc is to reduce the wool around the breech.

wool is a wonder fibre and should not be avoided just because no one has any idea

 

[NewHopePoultry]

I dont like it.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Why would they go through four times as much pain?? Makes no sense,... and i dont believe you.
Pay attention to your herd and you wont have such a parasite problem that you have to torture a LIVING/FEELING animal.......
Lets think.... how DOES it feel to have your SKIN shaved off?? Nice??
Or are sheep supposed to NOT feel pain? Just cause they are gentle KIND sheep.....
Interesting,.... how kind people will let an animal suffer and simply not care... A sheeps PAIN doesnt matter??...
oh well...