 The Australian sheep industry is the only sector of the industry to receive international criticism for its practices . Sheep stations in Australia are cited in Animal Liberation , the seminal book of the animal rights movement , as the author 's primary evidence in his argument against retaining sheep as a part of animal agriculture . The practice of mulesing , in which skin is cut away from an animal 's perineal area to prevent cases of the fatal condition flystrike , has been condemned by animal rights groups such as PETA as being a " painful and unnecessary " process . In response , a program of phasing out mulesing is currently being implemented , and some mulesing operations are being carried out with the use of anaesthetic . The Animal Welfare Advisory Committee to the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture Code of recommendations and minimum standards for the welfare of Sheep , considers mulesing a " special technique " which is performed on some Merino sheep at a small number of farms in New Zealand . 
