2005 News
Australian tennis great gets behind a great Australian industry
"I have seen first-hand the pain and the agonising death that sheep can suffer when they have been struck by blowflies." - Margaret Court
Australian tennis legend Margaret Court has today spoken out to defend the Australian sheep and wool industry from misleading attacks by animal rights extremists.
"My husband and I have been farming merino sheep in Western Australia for 30 years and I have seen first-hand the pain and the agonising death that sheep can suffer when they have been struck by blowflies," Mrs Court said.
"We use mulesing to provide lifetime protection to our sheep from this kind of suffering from flystrike in the breech.
"Farmers are clearly motivated by the welfare of their animals, but I have to question the motivation of animal rights extremists who suggest that mulesing should be banned immediately, with no viable alternative available."
Mrs Court was responding to a campaign of misinformation against the Australian sheep and wool industry by the US-based extremist organisation People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Mrs Court has stepped into the debate after another tennis great, Martina Navratilova wrote to Prime Minister John Howard this week to call for an end to mulesing.
"Martina and I are both in Melbourne for the Australian Open and I was grateful for the opportunity to have a brief conversation with Martina about this issue," Mrs Court said.
"Martina and I agree that animal welfare should be the highest priority for farmers and I would welcome the opportunity to arrange for Martina to get a full briefing on this issue.
"Indeed, I would warmly welcome Martina to visit our farm while she is in Australia to see how merino wool is produced and how we protect our sheep from flystrike."
Mrs Court and her husband Barry Court, who is President of the Pastoralists' and Graziers' Association of WA, run about 5000 merino sheep on their farm 'Dalkey' at Moora, 180km north of Perth, WA.
More information:
- Mulesing - this site's main mulesing resource.
- Australian wool and sheep industry - leaders in sheep care (70Kb pdf, new window)
- Alternative to Mulesing - Insight magazine (61Kb pdf, new window)
- Mulesing and worms - new solutions to old problems - Australian Wool Innovation
- Preventing breech flystrike - mulesing research - Australian Wool Innovation
- Alternative to mulesing - Australian Wool Innovation
- The Australian Blow Fly - Australian Museum Online
- Standard Operating Procedures (Mulesing) - Department of Primary Industries