Animal activists vow to up campaign against Australian mulesing

Animal rights activists vowed to intensify calls for boycotts of Australian wool Tuesday, after farmers said they would continue sheep mulesing, the cutting of the hide to prevent disease.

The US-based group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has campaigned for years against mulesing -- the Australian practice of cutting a slice of flesh from a sheep's rump to prevent the animal dying of flystrike.

PETA's efforts have seen major fashion companies such as Adidas, Hugo Boss, Ambercrombie & Fitch and Victoria's Secret shun the Australian product, and some foreign retailers refuse to sell clothing made with wool from the country.

Farmers had agreed to stop mulesing in 2010, but this week said they had not found a better way to prevent flies from embedding in wool near the sheep's backside and laying maggots, which eventually eat the animal's flesh.

Woolgrowers' body Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) said it made the decision based on scientific advice.

"AWI acknowledges that the 2010 mulesing deadline is unlikely to be reached for welfare reasons, based on scientific grounds," it said.

PETA said it had given Australian wool growers six years to stop mulesing and would step up calls for international boycotts.

It said there was no reason for Australia to continue the practice, as neighbouring New Zealand stopped it almost a decade ago.

"The AWI need only blame itself for losing the world market by trying to put off the inevitable," PETA said.

"The world's retailers now see that PETA was spot on -- that the AWI doesn't live up to its word and that it is still stuck in the 1930s."