PETA calls for end to wool trade

Animal rights pressure group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is asking retailers and consumers to say ‘no’ to products containing wool, citing the abuse of sheep during shearing, live export and mulesing (flaying of live lambs) as three reasons to avoid wool.

A recent exposé by the US arm of the organisation on the wool industry in the US and Australia – the source of 90% of merino wool in the world – shows severe mistreatment and abuse of sheep in farms and shearing sheds.

 "Sheep are gentle prey animals who are petrified of even being held down, yet these sheep were punched in the face, kicked and stamped on and had their heads slammed into the floor by unsupervised, impatient shearers, causing them great distress, injury and even death,” says PETA UK Associate Director Mimi Bekhechi. "PETA is calling on shoppers around the world to reject cruelty to animals – and that means never buying wool."

PETA has sent copies of the exposé video to UK retailers that sell wool. In the US, it has asked state and local law-enforcement agencies to investigate and file criminal charges against the workers, as appropriate, for what are believed to be violations of cruelty-to-animals laws.