Why Wool not Good? ¤¤¤å

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".... Farm Sanctuary found living sheep dumped on stockyard deadpiles, newborn lambs left to die from starvation in fields, and sheep trembling in fear at slaughterhouses. Wool should be recognized for what it really is: a product derived from the pain, misery and death of animals. Don't pull the wool over your eyes - or anywhere else!" -Lorri Bauston, President of the Farm Sanctuary

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The vast majority of sheep are raised for meat. Their wool is simply an extra income bonus for humans.

Sheep are most often mercilessly treated by uncaring hands. They are shy, nervous-natured creatures that become easily frozen with fear. They are artificially inseminated, up-ended for shearing, grabbed for injections, dipped, tagged, castrated & tail-docked. They die of cold, heat or thirst & suffer horribly ill-health.

20-40% of lambs die at birth or before the age of eight weeks from exposure to extreme weather conditions or starvation. Lambs undergo ear punching for identification, tail-docking, castration, dipping, spraying and mulesing. Rams are regarded as too difficult to handle, so the vast majority of male sheep are wethers (castrated rams). After these procedures, lambs may suffer shock, profuse bleeding, blood poisoning, tetanus, dislocated joints and arthritis.

The Merino, is the most commonly used breed in Australia. It is bred specifically for its wrinkly skin and fine white wool. Wrinkly skin means more wool per sheep and thus more money for the farmer. This unnatural overload of wool causes animals to die of heat exhaustion during hot spells, and the wrinkles collect urine and moisture. Attracted to the moisture, flies lay eggs in the folds of skin, and the hatched maggots may actually eat sheep alive (flystrike also occurs in the UK). The sheep will suffer agonising pain.

To counter flystrike a procedure called mulesing is carried out most of the lambs and sheep. This is where farmers carve huge strips of flesh (not wool) from around the anal and vaginal area of sheep without anaesthetic or any requirement of skill. This to leave a smooth scar that won't harbour fly eggs. However the dreadful wounds often get flystrike before they heal; and despite the suspicion that mulesing may kill more sheep than it saves, the mutilation continues. After mulesing, lambs can be seen writhing and scuttling sideways like crabs, trying to escape the pain. Mulesing can also go wrong and lead to infection in the tail joints as well as twisted tails. Mulesing is a bloody business and the wound will take 3-5 weeks to heal. Mulesed lambs suffer a setback in body weight gains for 10 days after the operation. Another dreadful procedure carried out in Australia (now illegal in Britain) is tooth grinding. Teeth are ground down exposing the pulpy nerve which causes excrutiating pain and suffering to millions of animals.

An estimated one million Australian sheep die every year of exposure after shearing. Shearing is on a piece rate contract (shearers get paid more money the more sheep they shear) so there is no incentive to handle sheep carefully. Stories of mistreatment and cruelty are common. One person who worked as a wool classer in Australia for many years is on record as saying "the shearing shed must be one of the worst places in the world for cruelty to animals ... I have seen shearers punch sheep with their shears or their fists until the sheep's nose bled. I have seen sheep with half their faces shorn off, no stitches ever being applied, not even as much as an antiseptic. Wethers have had their pizzles shorn straight off".

Once ewes grow old and unproductive, they are shipped to the Middle East for slaughter. It is normal for sheep to be without feed and water during mustering, loading/unloading and transporting to assembly depots on the coast. Here they are held in feedlots where many die. These animals have spent their life grazing for food. They are now expected to eat pelleted feed. Only 17% successfully make the change.

Over 5 million live sheep are exported each year from Australia to the Middle East. Each year around 100,000 of the sheep die during these long sea journeys. Younger animals or lambs born en route to the Middle East are often trampled to death. The most common causes are heat stroke, starvation and disease. They die by being ritually slaughtered i.e. having their throats slit whilst fully conscious.

In August 1996, the livestock carrier The Uniceb caught fire while carrying sheep from Australia to Jordan. All 67,488 sheep on board died by burning or drowning.
In July 1985, 15,000 sheep died (presumably from heat exhaustion) when their carrier was in the Persian Gulf, with temperatures around 35 degrees to 36 degrees and humidity around 84% to 87% .
In 1983, 15,000 sheep died in Portland (Victoria) feedlot due to cold and exposure during a cold spell.
In 1981, 8764 sheep (17.7%) died when ventilation broke down on The Persia.
In 1980, over 40,000 sheep were lost when the Farid Fares caught fire and sank .
In 1980, 2713 sheep (13.4%) died from disease on the Kahleej Express.

All forms of enclosed housing increase the danger of joint ill, E. coli, heat stress, pneumonia and Maedi Visna (the latter two are respiratory droplet borne diseases). Ewes have to be shorn six to eight weeks before lambing which may be a risk to her and the health of her offspring. There is also a danger of disease build-up of coccidiosis and all enteric parasites (worms). There is also a necessity for clean bedding and dung clearing. Mastitis may be caused (particularly to milk producing animals) from accumulated contaminated bedding.

Statistics show that one in five lambs born do not survive and the reasons are simply bad welfare. Many surveys have been carried out on lamb mortality rates in this country and it is generally found that a lamb loss of around 10-15% a year (4 million) occurs, although severe weather may lead to sporadic extremely high losses. The Ministry of Agriculture states the causes of lamb deaths as abortions & Stillbirths (40%), exposure and starvation (30%), infectious disease (20%), congenital defects (5%), predators or misadventure (5%). It is estimated that 75% of ewe mortalities occur during the time around lambing.

Every year more than 20,000 sheep are attacked by uncontrolled dogs. Sheep (often pregnant) have no defence whatsoever and suffer severe bites to all parts of their body, they have their ears severed and die of heart attacks. Entire flocks are savaged. Badly trained sheep dogs can cause stress in the flock, and in extreme cases can injure animals.

Sheep are usually slaughtered by electrical stunning followed by throat cutting. Stunning, however, may not be very effective and sheep might regain consciousness when they have their throats slit or while blood is being drained from their body. Many are also ritually slaughtered i.e. they have their throats slit whilst fully conscious.

To read more detailed information on the wrongs of wool, visit The Vegan Society