In 1985, Morrissey stated that ‘Meat was Murder’.

Now, in 2012, the former Smiths frontman has turned his attention to “mulesing”. In an open letter to high-street fashion brand Uniqlo, on behalf of PETA, Morrissey has urged the company to stop using wool from Australian farmers who “mutilate” sheep, claiming that if they don’t, he’ll write a song about the practice called ‘Mulesing is Misery’. It doesn’t quite roll off the tongue the same way, does it?

“On behalf of my friends at People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia”, Morrissey writes. “I am writing to ask you to put an end to Uniqlo’s use of wool from Australian farmers who persist in mutilating sheep using a technique called ‘mulesing’ in order to prevent a maggot infestation known as ‘flystrike’,” he writes. “Flystrike-prevention methods that don’t involve maiming animals are available and in use by some sheep farmers.

“Years ago, I wrote a song called “Meat Is Murder” and today I’m tempted to write a follow-up called “Mulesing Is Misery”. Shears are used to cut huge chunks of skin and flesh from lambs’ backsides with little to no painkillers. The idea is to create a smooth scar that will not collect urine and faeces, which attract flies, but the gaping, bloody wounds often become infested with maggots before they have time to heal.

“Moreover, humane options do exist, and a number of Australian wool farmers have already stopped mulesing and instead have simply improved their husbandry practices, including crutching and jetting more frequently, closely monitoring sheep during fly season and breeding bare-breech sheep.”

You can read the full letter below, via Music Week.