The Australian government has challenged Pink's campaign to boycott wool from the country due to farmers' continued use of the practice of mulesing. There's no pretty way to explain what mulesing is, so here goes: it's when they cut away wrinkled skin from lambs' perianal area down to the top of the hind legs, meaning that as the cut heals, the non woolly skin around the anus (and vulva, in ewes) is pulled tight, leaving a smooth area that does not accrue debris. Well, poo and wee, really, to not be coy about it. The 'operation', in which a portion of the tail is also removed and the remaining stump skinned, is generally completed using adapted shears, and is performed without anaesthetic or painkillers.
So, Pink thinks this is a sadistic process, and has said as much in a video she's made for animal rights body PETA. The singer says: "I am calling on consumers to check labels on sweaters before buying them, and if they're merino wool or made in Australia, to leave them on the racks."
However, Australian Treasurer Peter Costello says that the practice stops sheep dying from maggot infestations - aka fly-strike, or myiasis. He says: "Pink is entitled to her views but at the end of the day would Australia's farmers take advice from Pink? Sheep are at risk of being fly-blown and dying... it's not a pretty sight. Mulesing is not a pretty sight either but it's a damn sight more humane than letting a sheep die fly-blown in a paddock."
PETA argues, of course, that there are humane alternatives, but Aussie farmers say it's necessary. It's a practice that's illegal here in the UK, however, and, according to Wikipedia, representatives of the Australian wool industry met in 2004 and voted to phase out the practice by 2010.