mulesing
/ˈmjuːlzɪŋ
/noun [mass noun]
The process of removing folds of skin from the tail area of a sheep, intended to reduce fly strike.Let us look at what happened to the Australian meat industry when it was discovered by consumers overseas that farmers were mulesing their sheep....
- If People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals stops campaigning, the association agreed that its members should use pain killers on sheep before and after mulesing, among other steps, until the practice is phased out by 2010.
- An almost painless alternative to mulesing for sheep could be on the market within the next three to four years.
Origin
1940s: from the name of John H. W. Mules (1876–1946), the Australian sheep farmer who developed the process, + -ing1.