US retail leader to look at mulesing

A top executive of the world's largest retail trade association is in Australia to
see how soon woolgrowers can end the contentious practice of mulesing.
The United States' National Retail Federation (NRF) deputy vice president Erik Autor
will meet with 17 organisations representing woolgrowers, researchers, geneticists,
animal welfare experts, wool brokers, processors and government.
The federation, along with other US trade associations, recently wrote to the
Australian government urging it to intervene in the battle between woolgrowers and
US-based animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) over
mulesing.
PETA says the procedure, where skin is cut from the rear ends of sheep to prevent
flystrike, is cruel.
Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) intended to replace the practice with a viable
alternative by the end of 2010 but last year abandoned the plan - letting down US
retailers that stock Aussie wool garments.
PETA, too, has written to the government, seeking a breeding program for sheep that
don't need to be mulesed, and threatening to have a ban on the practice as a
condition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement under negotiation.
It says the government should withdraw funding from AWI unless it agrees to a
timeline to end mulesing, and suggests 2012 as the date.
Mr Autor realises the latest moves rattled some woolgrowers.
But the US was not suggesting mulesing be banned by law, rather, that the government
help fund solutions.
"We felt the industry had reached a roadblock and it needed some help breaking
through, and we thought the government might be able to assist the industry to do
that," he told AAP.
Mr Autor, whose visit is sponsored by AWI, meets government representatives next week.
AWI acting chief Stuart McCullough said the organisation looked forward to showing
him the work being done on farms, in labs and in the marketplace.
"The prevention of flystrike continues to be AWI's number one research priority with
over $25 million spent on finding flystrike prevention alternatives in the last five
years," he said.
Australian Stud Merino Breeders president Tom Ashby said flystrike could kill up to
3.5 million lambs annually in Australia, and enormous change was under way to tackle
the problem, with animal welfare in mind.
"Genetics presents the best long-term solution and many breeders are working as
quickly as they can towards a solution for their specific environment and
conditions," he said.



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