Shearing and mulesing

Piece work means that payment
Is on output
And dealing with live animals
We see
Movement as the animals are being sheared
And frustration then is evident
They be

Held down its uncomfortable
Free spirits do not like
shearers
Holding onto them And they
Clearly struggle quite a bit
And thats to be expected
And thats where
injuries happen and they say

Whatever technique is used
Leading really
to despair
The “Bowen”
or the “Tally Hi”technique
Both I do feel share
merits it appears
Its all about the masculine
the competitor
As for the animals
Really they can’t win

Gun shearers can shear 200
a day I hear
In four sessions
but it seems to me
To be cruel
with such insensitive behaviour
Its clearly something
the public never see

For me it takes lot of concentration
and often their inanity means they
Are into making money
not caring for the sheep
And thoughtlessness
on this scale does away

With care and consideration
for the animals
Who then get roughly handled
punched and kicked
Wool gathering
Is such a painful business
And many a sheep their wounds
sadly are licked

Mulesing is another vile creation
Where farmers are too stingy
so what they
Do is employ travellers
who go from farm to farm
And are untrained
in true shearing and they pay

A lot less
for what is mutilation
“They are only sheep who gives a shit”
they say
A sharp knife around the breech
about where they can reach
And then ripping the skin yes clean away

No policing and standards there are none
No anaesthetic ever
When the day is done
Farmsrs are a stingy breed
and if they can get away
With paying less they do that
Every single day

They know all about subsidies
Claiming thats their thing
As for paying wages
For the competance
They bring

Up many excuses
they will always try
Shearing can be painful
And The sheep well they do cry
Inside themselves its awful
Wool the stuff you wear
Is not as ethical as you may think
There is so much despair

Associated with it
I say this sheepishly
They really suffer greatly
And it should never be.
And all the wool about the place
Nobody seems to be
Concerned about the poor old sheep
Who suffer painfully