Many Australian wool producers breed sheep with excess skin, known as 'wrinkled sheep', to grow more wool. However, these wrinkled sheep, combined with Australia’s hot, humid climate and the presence of blowflies, are highly vulnerable to flystrike – a painful condition caused by flies laying eggs in a sheep’s skin folds. 

To try and stop flystrike, many farmers use a cruel and outdated method called live lamb cutting (also known as mulesing). This is one of the most invasive procedures done to farm animals. Lambs, usually 2-12 weeks old, are held on their backs while large pieces of skin and flesh are cut from their buttocks using sharp shears. This painful and traumatic procedure happens without adequate pain relief, causing the young lambs to feel every cut. The excruciating pain usually lasts for days, with a wound that take weeks to heal.

Over 10 million Australian Merino lambs endure live lamb cutting each year — that's roughly 19 lambs every minute. Australia is the only country still using this cruel practice. Even when pain relief is given, it only helps after the procedure, meaning the lambs feel every painful cut while it's happening. Read more here why pain relief is not a long-term solution. 

Yes, 'live lamb cutting' and 'mulesing' refer to the same practice. The term 'mulesing' doesn’t describe or convey the cruelty involved, and is outdated since an industry-proven alternative has been available for decades. On top of this, 'mulesing’ is hard to spell, pronounce, and remember, which makes it difficult to spread awareness and encourage change.

To enable better understanding, animal welfare experts have adopted a clearer term: 'live lamb cutting.' This new name more accurately describes the practice, emphasising that young lambs are being cut alive.

This is about more than just changing words – it’s about recognising the cruelty behind a significant part of the wool industry and advocating for change. FOUR PAWS encourages the adoption of 'live lamb cutting' to enable transparency and clarity. Read more about the new term here. 

Around 80% of the fine merino wool used in clothing worldwide comes from Australia. Despite years of efforts to end the cruel practice of live lamb cutting, the newest numbers from Australia show only about 20% of Australia's wool is free from this practice. This means of the wool that’s used in your clothes, or your friend's, has a 60% chance of coming from sheep that suffered live lamb cutting. It's not just an Australian issue – it's a global problem.

Thankfully, thousands of Australian wool producers have stopped live lamb cutting by breeding flystrike-resistant Merino sheep, known as ‘smooth’ or ‘plain-bodied’ sheep, instead of ‘wrinkly’ Merino sheep. 

This industry-proven breeding and management approach is effective and protects the whole sheep’s body not just their buttocks and has been applied for decades already. Wool producers who bred flystrike-resistant sheep are reaping the benefits of higher animal welfare including higher survival rates, and overall, more healthy and resilient sheep, access to wool premium markets and overall economic benefits for the producers. Hear from producers themselves as to how making the change has positively impacted their business.

Don Mudford an Australian wool producer shared with us what we heard from many producers already, that the biggest obstacle for change is that: “Most sheep-growing industry bodies [in Australia] are pro-mulesing and may not facilitate the free flow of information.” He suggested that “Brands need to encourage growers to stop mulesing and voice their concerns more actively in rural media, as growers are not always getting the information.” Consequently, we need people’s power to speak about this cruelty encouraging brands to exclude it from their supply chains.

Sheep farming has deep roots in Australia, with many businesses and practices being passed down through generations. Live lamb cutting (mulesing) has almost become a tradition that often goes unquestioned because it's simply been done for so long. The most dangerous sentences is, "this is how we have always done it."

However, around half of Australian wool producers have stopped live lamb cutting and many are now adopting modern breeding techniques that prioritise innovation alongside animal welfare. Change is happening but not fast enough. The louder we call for a ban of live lamb cutting to more brands, wool producers and politicians, the faster we can catalyse that change.

Twenty years ago in 2004, peak sheep industry bodies committed to ending live lamb cutting by 2010. Due to a failure to adequately act, they broke this commitment in 2009, and still today Australia continues to allow live lamb cutting. If the Australian wool industry had stuck to their promise, 140 million lambs would have been spared the cruel practice of live lamb cutting. The failure is caused by a lack of leadership, and vested interests stalling progress.

Over 300 global brands and retailers have already begun to source live lamb cutting-free wool, or have made strong commitments to do so. These companies are collaborating with their supply chain partners to eliminate live lamb cutting from their supply chains and products. Their public commitments are sending a clear message to the Australian sheep industry. Additionally, some brands have signed the FOUR PAWS ‘Brand Letter of Intent,’ urging the industry and governments to ban live lamb cutting by 2030.

FOUR PAWS launched this campaign on the 20th anniversary of the Australian wool industry’s broken promise to end live lamb cutting. The campaign highlights the ongoing cruelty of this practice, which continues today in the world’s largest wool industry, with international consumer demand playing a significant role in its persistence. Actors Danielle Macdonald and Scott Evans have supported the campaign by lending their voices to the video characters. Learn more about their support for lambs in our behind-the-scenes blog. 

Lambs like Sunny need your voice to demand change from brands, the wool industry, and politicians. By spreading the word, we can pressure all involved to take action. Collaboration between governments, brands, industries, and compassionate individuals is crucial to ending live lamb cutting and protecting innocent lambs. Together, we can ensure that lambs like Sunny are no longer subjected to this outdated cruelty.