Mulesing warning to Australian wool growers

Category: FIBRES

Country: Australia

By Simon Glover
Published: 27 July 2023

BIELLA - Fashion brands are increasingly refusing to accept wool from mulesed sheep, warns the Italian Wool Trade Association (IWTA) in an open letter to the Australian Superfine Wool Growers Association (ASWGA).

It comes as the ASWGA considers holding a vote on whether to change its constitution to become “a non-mulesed organisation” which would mean that growers who still mules their sheep could no longer be members.

In the letter, IWTA president Claudio Lacchio tells Mark Waters, his counterpart at the ASWGA, that he appreciates that the debate over a rule change over mulesing would be "very sensitive and complex".

But he adds: "The Italian wool trade is now facing the crisis that their customers will cease to accept wool products from mulesed sheep in the very near future. Around the world the list of brands and retailers on this path increases every day.

"This market intelligence is passed onto to ASWGA not as an ultimatum but as the stark reality facing both our industries."

Lacchio says that IWTA members supply the Italian textile industry with 90% of its wool, and want to offer a "collective view on how ASWGA might best reflect the interests of those who buy and use your wool".

He writes: "Quite obviously, the link between us all is that we rely heavily on the viability of an Australian superfine merino industry.

"For the past 20 years, the Italian wool trade has been delivering the message to the Australian wool industry that an increasing number of our customers are refusing to use wool from sheep that have been mulesed.

"On this point, I stress we have never attempted to tell growers how to produce wool, however, we would be negligent in not passing on our customers’ requirements."

Animal rights campaigners have long taken issue with the Australian wool sector’s use of mulesing – a practice in which wool-bearing strips of skin are removed from a sheep’s breech to prevent infection.

They argue it inflicts unnecessary pain on the animal, though some wool growers argue it’s the best remedy to mitigate infections that would be far more painful.

A number of fashion companies have established a no tolerance approach to mulesing, with the likes of Adidas, VF Corporation, Marks and Spencer and Missguided signing the Four Paws initiative’s petition for a 2030 ban of the practice.

EN has approached ASWGA for comment.

Courtesy: Ecotextile.com