Renewed push for pain relief in NSW

Providing pain relief when mulesing could provide market opportunities for producers in NSW.

Mandatory pain relief when mulesing lambs could present an opportunity for producers. Picture: Alex Coppel.

A RENEWED push to mandate pain relief while mulesing sheep in NSW could provide opportunities for growers looking to tap into changing consumer demands for wool.

The NSW upper house committee will conduct an inquiry into the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Bill, first put forward last year.

The public has until July 31 to comment on the amendment that could prohibit mulesing by 2023 and make pain relief compulsory for other procedures, including castration, dehorning, and tail docking.

In Victoria, mandatory pain relief when mulesing sheep has been in effect since the start of the month.

Victorian Farmers Federation livestock president Leonard Vallance said the group met with the State Government to discuss pain relief and mulesing before the law changed.

“The government and the VFF were agreeable to bring in mandatory pain relief. That demonstrates to the government and the community the VFF is a forward-thinking organisation,” Mr Vallance said.

“In Victoria we had a change of legislation, and the industry has just walked on. We haven’t had any complaint from any farmer to say we’ve done the wrong thing, and the farmers are progressive in the eyes of the community.”

Fox and Lillie wool technical manager Eamon Timms said there has been a “marked increase” in requests from the supply chain for “more confidence around the product they are buying”.

“It makes sense in mulesing that pain relief should be used,” Mr Timms said.

“It is very difficult for our industry to justify pain relief in a pain-inducing procedure such as mulesing. Increasingly, supply chains are talking about social license, and Australia is very much a leader in agriculture and we need to ensure we are a leader in all areas.”

Mr Timms said it was pleasing to see many wool producers had already opted in recent years to use pain relief when producing wool.

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