boycot wool 🏆 have mercy🏆 massacre, suffering, cruel abuse

May 29, 2010

Put an End to Cruel Mulesing

As an animal activist, I usually consider myself pretty hip to the jive when it comes to animal issues. I’ve educated friends and family members about the horrors of foie gras, what happens to chicks in factory farms, and why they shouldn’t shop at Petco. I’ve participated in dozens of campaigns, am trying to raise my child in a humane education setting, and generally try to be aware of the issues surrounding all sentient beings.
It was astonishing to me, as you could guess, when I learned about the practice of mulesing. Why hadn’t I heard of this before? For one thing, it’s a weird word—if I’d skimmed it in my reading before, I likely would’ve chalked it up to cruelly making mules sing for their supper, as I knew a woman who once did with her several cats. (I think it was more creepy than cruel, myself; she reminded me of that old cat lady in Jeepers Creepers.)
But in reality, mulesing is a practice used in the wool industry, largely in Australia. It involves carving off chunks of skin—actual skin, not just the wool itself—off the backsides of lambs in order to prevent the disease flystrike. It’s typically not even done with anesthetic. Can you imagine the pain and trauma these lambs must go through? That would be like us cutting off a chunk of our children’s butts in order to prevent polio.
Some farmers opt to not cut off the skin, but to instead pinch the skin with clips until it dries up and falls off on its own. Perhaps the farmers believe they are being more humane in this fashion, but in reality the practice is a lengthy, painful one.
It’s true that flystrike can be a painful, debilitating, even deadly disease. Maggots can eat the sheep alive from the inside out if left untreated. But more humane alternatives to preventing the condition exist. Sheep can be bred in a manner to prevent the disease from occurring. Breeds with less wrinkly skin are particularly less affected by the disease. Experts say that within two years, Australian farmers could completely phase into this breed of sheep, nearly eliminating the need for preventative measures against the disease.
And here’s the thing: the wool industry of Australia had already promised to stop the practice. However, they’ve since broken the promise, and need to be reminded of how important it is to stop mulesing. Please write to Prime Minister Rudd today and ask for the practice to be stopped and replaced with more humane alternatives.

http://farmtalk.com/news/put-end-cruel-mulesing

Tell Your Friends to Be Sweet to Animals


Each year, millions of animals are tortured and eventually killed just so that people can wear fur, leather, and wool garments. The holidays are a time to get together and exchange gifts, but the dead skin of abused animals doesn't belong under the Christmas tree, now does it? This year, we want you to help convince your friends and family to be kind by not buying clothes made out of animals' skin.

Minks, rabbits, foxes, and other animals on fur farms are crammed into filthy wire cages where they are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them. Some are still conscious when they are bashed over the head and skinned alive. Cows are hacked into pieces and their skin is ripped off so that they can be made into leather coats and shoes. Sheep raised for wool in Australia have huge chunks of skin and flesh cut from their behinds, and many are shipped off to the Middle East, where they are slaughtered in the most horrific ways imaginable. With so many lovely and warm faux fur, leather, and wool clothing options available at almost every major retailer, there's simply no reason not to buy cruelty-free gifts this Christmas.

Here's how you can help us convince your friends and family members—and even a few strangers—to have a cruelty-free holiday:

1.Click here to download a sheet of "Be Sweet to Animals" tags.
2.Print out a few sheets, then cut each tag out separately.
3.Using a rubber band or some tape, attach the tags to candy canes (you can buy a few dozen for cheap at your local drugstore).
4.Give the candy canes to your friends, put one in your mom's stocking, hand them out at school, or go down to the nearest mall and give them to people as they walk in to do their holiday shopping. Be creative!




If you don't celebrate Christmas, be creative—put the tags on gifts you're giving this holiday season.

Once you've handed out your candy canes, rush back home and send a report to StreetTeam@peta2.com to let us know how it went. We'll give you 1,500 Street Team points for handing out the treats with tags on them, and we'll even give you a 750-point bonus if you include a picture with your report. Does it get any sweeter than that? (Get it, "sweeter" … because it's candy?) If you aren't on the Street Team, sign up now and start earning free peta2 merch for helping animals.

What’s Wrong with Wool?
U.S. textile mills use nearly four times more imported than domestically produced wool. Much of it comes from Australia. With 118 million sheep, Australia is the world’s top wool producer and exporter.
Within weeks of birth, lambs’ ears are hole-punched, and the males are castrated without anesthetics. Extremely high rates of mortality are considered normal on Australian wool farms. 20 to 40 percent of lambs die before the age of 8 weeks, and 8 million mature sheep die every year from disease, exposure, or neglect.
Australian ranchers mainly raise Merino sheep, who are not native to Australia and therefore do not fair well in the harsh conditions. Merinos are bred to have extremely wrinkly skin (which allows for more wool). This unnatural overload of wool causes animals to die of heat exhaustion during summers. The wrinkles collect moisture, which attracts flies and results in maggot infestation known as “flystrike.” Maggots can literally eat sheep alive, so in order to reduce flystrike, ranchers perform a crude operation known as “mulesing.” Mulesing involves carving wide strips of skin from around the lambs’ tails to produce smooth scars that won’t harbor fly larvae. Tail docking (cutting off the sheeps’ tails) is often done in conjunction with mulesing to reduce feces and urine stains on the wool. Both mutilations are currently performed without the use of anesthesia; however, a new drug called Tri-Solfen is being introduced to reduce pain during mulesing. Unfortunately, the maker of the drug, Bayer, tests the product and many of its other products on animals. Ironically, because of the large bloody wounds caused by mulesing and tail docking, sheep often get flystrike before they heal.
According to Australian Law Reform chairperson M.D. Kirby, each year Australian sheep endure more than 50 million operations, such as mulesing and tooth-grinding, that would constitute animal cruelty if performed on dogs or cats.
Many people believe that shearing brings relief to animals that would otherwise be too hot. This is true if done in the summer, but in order to avoid losing any wool, ranchers shear sheep before they would naturally shed their winter coats, resulting in many sheep deaths from exposure to the cold.
When sheep are no longer profitable for wool production, they are slaughtered. They are exported in 14-tiered ships from Australia to the Middle East, a three- to six-week trip during which up to 18 percent of the animals die from the cramped and filthy conditions. Millions of sheep endure this transport, after which they are ritually slaughtered while fully conscious, per year.
Sheep exploited for wool in the U.S. also suffer from inhumane handling and transportation, and they too often face cruel ritual slaughter when they are no longer profitable to the wool industry. Sheep raised in the U.S. do not suffer the agony of live export to the Middle East, but they do suffer the same cruelties of wool production, including painful mutilations that are often done with little or no anesthesia.
Most U.S.-raised sheep and lambs are either raised on factory farms, where they spend their entire lives in filthy, manure-filled warehouses, or they are raised “on the range” without any shelter from extreme weather conditions. Thousands of lambs and sheep die every year from harsh conditions. Thousands more die from transportation, during which sheep are severely overcrowded onto trucks. The non-profit organization Farm Sanctuary has documented dozens of cases of “downed” sheep at auctions and stockyards. Sheep and lambs too weak to even stand are often abandoned on “dead piles” and left to die slowly from neglect. After a lifetime of producing wool, sheep are sent to slaughter. The U.S. slaughters 3 million sheep every year.
Alternatives to Wool…
There are many great alternatives to wool. Warm and fashionable sweaters made from cotton, fleece, acrylic, and ramie are readily available. For hiking or cold weather, try Patagonia Capaline or other similar synthetic long underwear, gloves, socks, blankets, etc. Knit polyester, acrylic, or fleece can easily replace wool in hats and beanies. Gore-Tex or other water-resistant synthetics work well in place of wool pants. Polyester, rayon, linen, microfiber, and other synthetics can replace wool suits, sport coats, and blazers.
“To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
PO Box 45843, Seattle, WA 98145
www.afa-online.org - (206) 227-5752
Online Store: www.AFAstore.com
www.VeganStarterPack.com

Can you help us end abominable cruelty to animals?

I recently shared with you a story of a gentle sheep, who endured a terrifying journey across rough seas and storms in a hot, extremely crowded ship, barely avoiding being trampled to death by other sheep who were struggling to remain standing. Millions of individual Australian sheep are crammed onto multi-tiered ships bound for ports in the Middle East and North Africa, where they will be dragged to shore and then have their throats cut whilst they are still conscious.
That's why I'm asking if I may please count on you, a person who truly cares about animals, to help us do all we can to end such abominable cruelty.
Australian sheep farmers claim that it would be economically impossible to ban live export. However, RSPCA Australia recently conducted an economic analysis of the export of live sheep and published a report that flatly refutes this claim.


In light of this new evidence, and with concerns about live export at the forefront of the public's interest, the time to help us is now!
Please join other PETA members and compassionate people around the world and help us to crank up the pressure on Australian authorities. Taking the following actions today can help save animals' lives:
1> Send a message to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urging him to ban live export.
2> Make the most generous gift that you can afford in order to help us stop the suffering of millions of individual animals stuck in the live-export trade and to help all other animals around the world.
Your support will enable us to pressure Australian government officials and business leaders to stop exporting live sheep from Australia.
Your support will also allow us to educate people who are unaware of the cruelty of live export. With your help, we will be able to conduct media-grabbing demonstrations to let millions more people know what these sheep endure.
With your help, we could well win this battle too, which is why I urge you to make a lifesaving donation today. No animal should ever suffer the hellish conditions of the live-export trade or the terror of cruel slaughter methods. Please help us increase the pressure needed to save animals' lives today by supporting our work with as generous a contribution as you can afford.
Thank you for caring.
Very truly yours,

Ingrid E Newkirk
Founder
PS Your donation to support our work may be eligible for Gift Aid. Using Gift Aid means that for every pound you give to PETA, we get an extra 28p from the Inland Revenue, so your donation will do even more to help animals – and it won't cost you a single penny more! All you need to do is make sure you check the Gift Aid box at the bottom of the form on our website when you make a donation.

Live export: the journey from hell to a horrific death

Each year, millions of Australian sheep are crammed onto multi-level ships bound for ports in the Middle East and North Africa. When they arrive, the sheep will be callously dragged to shore as if they were sacks of coal, and then they will have their throats cut whilst they are still conscious.
Sheep are intelligent animals who feel pain and suffer, just as you or I do. The treatment of sheep aboard ships and upon arrival in the Middle East would horrify any compassionate person.


I hope that by sharing the story of what it must be like for one individual sheep, I can inspire you to make an important gift to support our vital work.
Picture a gentle sheep on a farm in Australia, the world's largest producer of Merino wool. One day, she is herded onto a crowded truck bound for a ship in a port city hundreds of miles away. For 24 hours or longer, she goes without any food or water. Her stomach aches and her mouth is dry as a bone, and she is constantly jolted and jarred. She is terrified, exhausted from sleep deprivation and stifled by the roasting heat inside the truck – with no idea what will befall her next.
Scared and desperately weak when she arrives at the port, she is herded into a feedlot. The "pellet" food wreaks havoc on her digestive system, causing stomach upset and diarrhoea, making her sicker and weakening her even more.
Eventually, she finds herself roughly herded onto a multi-tiered ship along with thousands of other sheep – strangers, not the family she has known. Because the sheep are packed together so tightly , she is barely able to move. And that is how she stays for up to three weeks at sea – if she survives the gruelling journey.
The enclosed ship deck becomes as hot as an oven. The amount of urine and faeces on the floor grows every day. In a few days, her lungs and eyes are burning from the ammonia fumes, which are so strong they eventually cause her to lose her vision.
Some sheep on board die from starvation, others from heatstroke. In a bid to contain the diseases that run rampant on the ship, the workers often throw the bodies of the dead and dying into a macerator – a large mincing device – which grinds them up and flushes their remains out to sea.
The next stop for her is the live market, where she is sold to an unskilled slaughterer. In sheer terror, she smells the blood of other sheep all around her and tries to hobble away, but a man throws her to the ground and slashes her throat as she struggles to stay alive.
In the final 30 seconds of her life, she looks up to see her death witnessed by other sheep who are still searching frantically for a way to escape as the man approaches them with his knife.
Your donation to PETA today will help us fight to end the suffering of the millions of individual animals involved in the live-export trade, and to help all other animals around the world. Only with your support can we change the lives of animals like these for good.
No animal should ever suffer the hellish conditions of live export or the terror of cruel slaughter methods. Please help us increase the pressure needed to save animals' lives today by supporting our work with as generous a contribution as you can afford. Thank you for caring.
Very truly yours,

Ingrid E Newkirk
Founder
PS Are you a UK taxpayer? If so, your donation to support our work may be eligible for Gift Aid, in which case we may be able to claim an additional 28p for every pound you give – meaning your donation can do even more to help animals.

Many people think there's nothing wrong with wool—sheep are lovingly shorn of their excess fleece on small, picturesque farms, right?

Wrong.

No amount of fluff can hide the fact that buying wool supports a surprisingly cruel and bloody industry, in which sheep suffer while they're alive and die a horrifying death. With your generous support, we can help stop the abuse of sheep. : https://ebiz.isiservices.com/peta-e/peta/donation.asp?section_code=H08M286Q&ask4=--25-35-50-100-o

PETA's investigations of the wool industry in Australia—where much of the world's wool is produced-have exposed horrific cruelty to animals. We have found helpless lambs who had flesh deliberately cut off their rumps—without anything at all to numb the pain. Despite the wool industry's ads depicting cuddly sheep, this barbaric practice—called mulesing—is routine.

It's not only cruel, it's pointless too. Mulesing is intended to stop maggots from infesting the sheep's wrinkled skin, yet there are readily available and humane alternatives to this crude and painful practice. Neither the Australian government nor industry leaders care to stop mulesing or other cruel abuses inflicted on sheep.

With your tax-deductible gift to PETA today, we can help put an end to the terrible suffering and abuse of sheep. : https://ebiz.isiservices.com/peta-e/peta/donation.asp?section_code=H08M286Q&ask4=--25-35-50-100-o

PETA's unique international campaign to protect these abused lambs and sheep is gaining ground. Dozens of leading designers and retailers—including Marc Bouwer, Stella McCartney, Abercrombie & Fitch, H&M, and Limited Brands—have joined our campaign. All have pledged not to use or sell mulesed Australian wool until this cruel practice is stopped.

Your support is the key to our success with this campaign. By donating online to PETA today, you will help us stand up for all the lambs and sheep whose suffering has been carefully hidden—and totally ignored by those who profit off their skin, wool, and meat. : https://ebiz.isiservices.com/peta-e/peta/donation.asp?section_code=H08M286Q&ask4=--25-35-50-100-o

It gets worse! When sheep stop producing high volumes of wool, they are often shipped to Middle Eastern slaughterhouses. They are sent on long ocean voyages in all weather extremes in often disease-ridden boats.

Lambs born on the ships can be trampled and killed. Some are exposed to the elements, and unable to escape their own waste, many sheep become sick or injured or die. Still others starve to death, as they do not recognize the feed or reach the troughs.

When they finally arrive at the slaughterhouse, sheep are dragged, thrown, and kicked before having their throats slit. At one slaughterhouse in Amman, Jordan, the video documentation our investigators gathered contained stomach-churning footage. You can watch it on our Web site, but please note that the footage is very upsetting.

Please donate to PETA's campaign to help reform this cruel industry and stop the unimaginable cruelty inflicted on these animals. With your compassionate support, we can do just that. : https://ebiz.isiservices.com/peta-e/peta/donation.asp?section_code=H08M286Q&ask4=--25-35-50-100-o

HUGO BOSS phases out cruel wool

Designer giant Hugo Boss has announced that it will phase out the use of Australian wool originating from lambs who have undergone either the standard mulesing mutilation or the new “clip mulesing” mutilation. This is fantastic news, as yet another world-famous clothing company joins the international boycott of this cruelly produced wool, following in the footsteps of H&M, Matalan and more.

In 2004, the Australian wool industry sat up and started listening to what people were saying about Australia’s cruel treatment of sheep, and publicly pledged to phase out mulesing by 2010. Fast forward to now and the industry is promoting another cruel mulesing method where clips are attached to the folded skin and flesh of lambs, causing it to rot and fall off. Mmmm, sounds great – not. HUGO BOSS hasn’t been fooled either and will be phasing out all wool that could have been produced in either of these ways. In a statement the company says:

“HUGO BOSS disassociates itself from mulesing because it contravenes our corporate values … [and] has decided to phase out the use of wool from farms that perform mulesing – including clip mulesing. Should mulesing not have ended completely by 2010, HUGO BOSS will refuse to purchase wool material from farms that perform mulesing.”

Fighting Animal Abuse Around the World

Hugo Boss Phases Out Cruel Wool HUGO BOSS Phases Out Cruel Wool
Designer giant Hugo Boss has announced that it will phase out the use of Australian wool originating from lambs who have undergone either the standard mulesing mutilation or the new "clip mulesing" mutilation. Read the story in full here.

Non-Animal-Tested Companion-Animal Food Non-Animal-Tested Companion-Animal Food
Want to make sure that your companion-animal food wasn't tested on animals? PETA Europe has put together a list of compassionate companies that don't support animal testing. Find out more here.

Stop the Bloody Seal Hunt Stop the Bloody Seal Hunt — Act Today!
There's still time to write to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and let him know that it's time for Canada to erase this stain on its reputation and put a permanent end to the massacre.

Bloody Burberry: The Fur Fighters Bloody Burberry: The Fur Fighters
Help the "Fur Avengers" fight against the fur using fiends through three exciting levels in PETA Europe's amazing new online game.

PETA Europe's Blog: Fish & Chimps

Redwood FoodsRedwood Foods
Love Redwood's delicious dairy-free Super Melting Cheezly? Vote for it in the Yaoh Vegan Environmental Awards! Described in the Yaoh nominations as "the daddy of all inventions when it comes to vegan dairy alternatives", Cheezly comes in cheddar, Edam, Gouda and mozzarella. You can vote once each month until 31 May, and you can find Cheezly in the dairy-alternative section. For more information about Redwood and to shop online, visit www.redwoodfoods.co.uk.

Do you have what it takes to be a saviour for animals full-time? PETA Europe currently has positions available in our London office. Apply today!

Most people imagine that sheep live happy lives and roam free until they are carefully sheared. But you are among the few who understand that this isn't the case. A long-term pattern of animal abuse pervades the Australian wool industry, which is the largest in the world. Sheep, like animals raised for food and fur in factory farms, are treated like machines so that people can buy wool goods and corporations can make a profit. You can help end these cruel practices with your gift to PETA. What the Australian Wool Industry Doesn't Want You to Know

Our campaign calls for an end to the dirty secrets—and cruelest practices—of the Australian wool industry, including the following:

Mulesing is a practice in which huge chunks of skin and flesh are cut from lambs' backsides—without any painkillers. This is done to cause smooth, scarred skin that can't harbor fly eggs. However, the exposed, bloody wounds often fall victim to flystrike before they can heal.

Live transport refers to the transport of tens of thousands of sheep who are no longer profitable to the wool industry. They are sent on weeks-long voyages on open-decked ships to Middle Eastern countries, where animal welfare standards are non-existent. Sheep are often dragged off ships by their ears and legs in order to have their throats slit while they are still conscious.

The horrors do not stop there. Won't you join me in our campaign to stop these horrific practices against lambs and sheep? Make as generous of a donation to PETA as you possibly can today. Thanks to PETA's efforts, top retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle, Liz Claiborne, and Limited Brands have moved away from Australian wool in favor of wool from countries that do not mutilate or live-export sheep. What has been the Australian wool industry's response to PETA's campaign? A two-year, multimillion-dollar lawsuit that aimed to silence our lifesaving campaign for sheep. But because of the support of people like you, we have just won this round and the lawsuit has been dropped. Our battle, however, is far from over. We must continue to put pressure on the wool industry and leading retailers to stop the mulesing mutilations of baby lambs as well as the export of these animals on "death ships."

Can I count on your support?

For all the sheep you will help us fight to save, thank you. Sheep are gentle individuals who—like all animals—feel pain, fear, and distress. Yet lambs and sheep in Australia endure some of the worst cruelty of any animals on the planet. Won't you please help us stop these cruel practices with your support today?

The Animals

It may come from a sheep, goat, or Tibetan antelope. It may be called "wool," "mohair," "pashmina," "shahtoosh," or "cashmere." But no matter what it's called, any kind of wool causes harm to the animals from whom it is taken.

Death "down under"

Currently exploiting more than 100 million miserable sheep, Australia produces 30 percent of all wool used worldwide. Holdings consist of thousands of sheep, making individual attention to their needs and even to medical emergencies impossible. In Australia, the most commonly raised sheep are Merinos, specifically bred to have wrinkly skin, which means more wool per animal. This unnatural overload of wool causes many sheep to collapse and even die of heat exhaustion during hot months, and the wrinkles collect urine and moisture. Attracted to the moisture, flies lay eggs in the folds of skin, and the hatched maggots can eat the sheep alive. To prevent this so-called "flystrike," Australian ranchers perform a barbaric operation-called "mulesing"-where they force live sheep onto their backs, restrain their legs between metal bars, and, without any painkillers whatsoever, slice chunks of flesh from around their tail area. This is done to cause smooth, scarred skin that can't harbor fly eggs. Ironically, the exposed, bloody wounds themselves often get flystrike before they heal. Within weeks of birth, lambs' ears are hole-punched, their tails are chopped off, and the males are castrated without anesthetics. Male lambs are castrated when they are between 2 and 8 weeks old, either by making an incision and cutting their testicles out or with a rubber ring used to cut off blood supply-one of the most painful methods of castration possible. Every year, hundreds of lambs die before the age of 8 weeks from exposure or starvation, and mature sheep die every year from disease, lack of shelter, and neglect.

Transport Terror

When sheep age and their wool production declines, they are of no use to wool farmers and so are discarded for slaughter. This results in the cruel live export of 6.5 million sheep every year from Australia to the Middle East and North Africa, where sheep are crammed aboard multitiered open-deck ships. Nearly 800,000 sheep enter the live export trade from the U.K. and are slaughtered abroad. Australian and New Zealand sheep are slaughtered in the Middle East, after enduring a grueling, weeks- or months-long journey on overcrowded, disease-ridden ships with little access to food or water through all weather extremes. Many sheep fall ill, many become stuck in feces and are unable to move, and many are smothered or trampled to death by other sheep trying not to fall or trying to reach water when it is available. Shipboard mortality ranges up to 10 percent. Sick and injured sheep are often ground up in a mincer while fully aware or are thrown overboard to drown or be eaten by sharks.

In 2002, 14,500 sheep reportedly died from heat stress while in transit to the Middle East. Their carcasses were thrown overboard. Between August and October of 2003, more than 50,000 sheep suffered aboard the MV Cormo Express when the Saudi Arabian government refused to accept the sheep because too many of them were believed to be infected with "scabby mouth," an infectious disease that results in sores and scabs around the animals' mouths. After nearly two months aboard this ship, with very little food and water, often in temperatures exceeding 100°F, the African nation of Eritrea accepted the sheep for slaughter. When the survivors arrive at their destination, they are dragged from the ships and thrown into the backs of trucks and cars, eventually to have their throats slit while they are fully conscious. In the Muslim nations of North Africa and the Middle East, ritual slaughter is exempt from humane slaughter regulations. Some sheep are slaughtered en masse in lots, while others are taken home, often in the trunks of cars, and slaughtered individually by the purchasers.

Click here for more information on Australia’s cruel live-export trade :www.savethesheep.com/report.asp

Most people imagine that sheep live happy lives and roam free until they are carefully sheared. But you are among the few who understand that this isn't the case. A long-term pattern of animal abuse pervades the Australian wool industry, which is the largest in the world. Sheep, like animals raised for food and fur in factory farms, are treated like machines so that people can buy wool goods and corporations can make a profit. You can help end these cruel practices with your gift to PETA. What the Australian Wool Industry Doesn't Want You to Know

Our campaign calls for an end to the dirty secrets—and cruelest practices—of the Australian wool industry, including the following:

Mulesing is a practice in which huge chunks of skin and flesh are cut from lambs' backsides—without any painkillers. This is done to cause smooth, scarred skin that can't harbor fly eggs. However, the exposed, bloody wounds often fall victim to flystrike before they can heal.

Live transport refers to the transport of tens of thousands of sheep who are no longer profitable to the wool industry. They are sent on weeks-long voyages on open-decked ships to Middle Eastern countries, where animal welfare standards are non-existent. Sheep are often dragged off ships by their ears and legs in order to have their throats slit while they are still conscious.

The horrors do not stop there. Won't you join me in our campaign to stop these horrific practices against lambs and sheep? Make as generous of a donation to PETA as you possibly can today. Thanks to PETA's efforts, top retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle, Liz Claiborne, and Limited Brands have moved away from Australian wool in favor of wool from countries that do not mutilate or live-export sheep. What has been the Australian wool industry's response to PETA's campaign? A two-year, multimillion-dollar lawsuit that aimed to silence our lifesaving campaign for sheep. But because of the support of people like you, we have just won this round and the lawsuit has been dropped. Our battle, however, is far from over. We must continue to put pressure on the wool industry and leading retailers to stop the mulesing mutilations of baby lambs as well as the export of these animals on "death ships."

Can I count on your support?

For all the sheep you will help us fight to save, thank you. Sheep are gentle individuals who—like all animals—feel pain, fear, and distress. Yet lambs and sheep in Australia endure some of the worst cruelty of any animals on the planet. Won't you please help us stop these cruel practices with your support today?

Boycott Australian wool until lamb mutilations and cruel live exports end. We have just received historic news: After 30 months of hard-hitting PETA campaigning, animal advocates can celebrate what may be the beginning of the end of mulesing, a 90-year-old tradition that involves the painful mutilations of sheep by the Australian wool industry. In a decision that PETA's Australian legal representation called "a clear lesson to other industries that it is extremely unwise to try to silence their critics by using heavy-handed litigation, rather than sensible dialog," PETA, other parties involved in the litigation, and industry group Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) reached an agreement today in which AWI promised to withdraw its pointless lawsuit, which has already cost the wool industry millions of dollars. In response to the withdrawal, PETA promises that the boycott of Australian wool will continue full-throttle as long as lambs are still forced to endure mulesing and sheep are forced to board cruel live-export "death ships." Read our news release about this precedent-setting development, and click here http://getactive.peta.org/ct/p7NVVq614mJm/ to read PETA's Web feature about the agreement. Please take a moment right now to act on this urgent matter and make a donation today to support PETA's lifesaving campaigns. Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
Mr. John Howard

Below is the sample letter:

Subject: Please end the cruel practices of mulesing and live exports today.

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

Why has the Australian government done nothing to stop the cruel practices of mutilating lambs and exporting live sheep to the Middle East, despite overwhelming scientific evidence that the mutilation is so cruel that it adversely affects the animals for months and that animals shipped overseas are killed in ways that would be illegal in Australia? Tens of thousands of lambs endure "mulesing" each year, a painful mutilation in which farmers cut skin and flesh from lambs' backsides - so far without any painkillers. Every year, millions of Australian sheep are transported thousands of miles through all weather extremes to be cruelly unloaded, transported, and slaughtered in the Middle East. Mr. Prime Minister, please stop turning a blind eye to the suffering of millions of Australian animals and call for an end to the cruel mulesing mutilations of lambs and the exporting of live sheep to the Middle East.

http://getactive.peta.org/ct/pdNVVq614mJj/

http://getactive.peta.org/ct/p1NVVq614mJu/

http://getactive.peta.org/ct/p7NVVq614mJm/

http://getactive.peta.org/ct/ppNVVq614mJE/

http://getactive.peta.org/ct/0pNVVq614mJ7/

Shear Torture

Many people believe that shearing sheep helps animals who might otherwise be burdened with too much wool. But without human interference, sheep grow just enough wool to protect themselves from temperature extremes. The fleece provides effective insulation against both cold and heat. Shearers are usually paid by volume, not by the hour, which encourages fast work without regard for the welfare of the sheep. Says one eyewitness: "[T]he 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."

Click here to find out how you can help : www.savethesheep.com/youCanHelp.asp

Cashmere and other kinds of wool

Cashmere is made from cashmere goats. Those with "defects" in their coats are typically killed before 2 years of age. Industry experts expect farmers to kill 50 to 80 percent of young goats whose coats do not meet standards. Contrary to what many consumers think, "shearling" is not sheared wool; the term refers to the sheep. A shearling is a yearling sheep who has been shorn once. A shearling garment is made from a sheep or lamb shorn shortly before slaughter; the skin is tanned with the wool still on it. Angora rabbits [/color][color=#000000]are strapped to a board for shearing, kicking powerfully in protest. The clippers inevitably bite into their flesh, with bloody results. Angoras have very delicate foot pads, making life on a wire cage floor excruciating and ulcerated feet a common condition. Because male angoras have only 75 to 80 percent of the wool yield of females, on many farms they are killed at birth.

The market for alpaca exploded in the 1980s, when South American alpacas and llamas were marketed worldwide to entrepreneurs who bought into the vision of a ground-floor investment in a luxury fiber market. The craze subsided but breeding continues, and unwanted animals are now routinely put up for auction. Llama sanctuaries and rescue operations have sprung up in the wake of the breeding craze to handle the growing number of abused, neglected animals. Shahtoosh, used to make "fashionable" shawls, is made from the endangered Tibetan antelope, or chiru. Chiru cannot be domesticated and must be killed in order to obtain their wool. Illegal to sell or possess since 1975, shahtoosh shawls did a brisk business on the black market throughout the 1990s, selling for as much as $15,000 apiece as the Tibetan antelope's population plummeted to fewer than 75,000. A raid of a 1994 charity event in New York by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service resulted in subpoenas issued to supermodels and socialites who purchased the shawls and the first criminal prosecutions for the sale of the "fabric." In April 2000, British authorities prosecuted a London trading company for illegal possession of 138 shawls-representing 1,000 antelope pelts. Despite the ban on shahtoosh in India, a thriving black market still caters to customers in London, New York, and Los Angeles, who will pay as much as $17,000 for a shawl. As many as 20,000 chiru are killed every year for their wool, a rate that will wipe out the species by 2011 if left unchecked.

The Environment

At every stage of production, from breeding sheep to mothproofing garments, the wool industry threatens the land, air and water. By purchasing only wool alternatives wool you're not only taking a stand for animals, you're also helping to preserve natural ecosystems throughout the world.

Climate Change

Manure generated from livestock has significantly contributed to the increase in atmospheric "greenhouse" gasses over the last 250 years. In that time, the concentration of methane has increased by more than 130 percent in the United States. "Enteric fermentation," or livestock belching and passing gas, accounts for roughly one-quarter of annual agricultural methane emissions. In New Zealand, methane emissions from enteric fermentation, coming mostly from sheep, constitute more than 90 percent of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. In the summer of 2003, New Zealand's agriculture minister, Jim Sutton, Convenor of the Ministerial Group on Climate Change Pete Hodgson, and other members of the government proposed taxing sheep farmers to pay for emissions research, but the plan was recently abandoned.

Land Damage

Oxford researchers studying land degradation in Karoo, South Africa, have noted, "There is some evidence in the Karoo as a whole that very high stock numbers (sheep largely) are the cause of vegetation change and soil erosion leading to the formation of badlands heavily eroded areas." In the first half of the 20th century, Patagonia, Argentina, was second to Australia in wool production. But when local sheep farmers got too greedy, the scale of their operations outgrew the ability of the land to sustain them. Soil erosion in the region has triggered a desertification process that officials estimate threatens as much as 93 percent of the land. Argentina is no longer a major wool producer.

Water Pollution

Fecal matter contaminates waterways in areas where sheep are farmed. A case study conducted by the New Zealand government on two medium-sized farms found fecal contamination in the water that " exceeded levels suitable for drinking and safe recreational use in virtually every reading since 1994, and in recent times ... has well exceeded safe livestock drinking levels." Sheep "dip," which is a toxic chemical used to rid sheep of parasites, presents disposal problems and can harm the environment. A Scottish study of 795 sheep-dip facilities found that 40 percent presented a pollution risk. The study found evidence of a 1995 incident in which a cupful of spent dip, full of a highly toxic synthetic called pyrethroid cypermethrin, killed 1,200 fish downstream of where it was dumped into a river.

Wildlife "Scapegoats"

The wool industry also inflicts "collateral damage" on wildlife they consider to be "pests." Many landowners consider kangaroos to be such "pests," and though there are some laws governing the killing of kangaroos, on their own property, landowners can do whatever they want to these animals without fear of repercussions. The preferred method of killing joeys whose mothers have been slaughtered is, according to government code, decapitation or a "blow to destroy the brain." In the U.S., coyotes are vilified for eating sheep and other livestock, and as a result, millions are slaughtered every year by ranchers and the federal government.

You can help. If you don’t like what you see here, you’re in good company. Every year, millions of people turn away from wearing animal skins by refusing to purchase products made from them. For animals’ sake, please, don’t buy wool. There are fashionable, durable, and warm alternatives to wool available virtually everywhere that clothes are sold. Featured actions. Write to the Australian agriculture minister, Peter McGauran, urging him to put a stop to the cruel practices inflicted on sheep and lambs used for merino wool: The Honourable Peter McGauran, MP
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
GPO Box 858
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia
+61 0413 601 303 (fax)
peter.mcgauran.mp@aph.gov.au

Write to your local newspaper to educate readers about the cruelty endured by animals raised for wool. http://peta.org/alert/tkit.htm Leaflet at local shopping centers or other places where wool is sold. Click here to view or order our “What’s Wrong With Wool?” leaflet. Before leafleting at a business that sells wool, try taking copies of our leaflet and video to the store manager, and ask that some or all of the company’s wool items be replaced with cruelty-free fabrics. Create a display for your local or public library to inform people about the cruelty of wool production and to encourage them to purchase only alternatives to wool. We can provide you with any of the resources that you’ll need. Urge the Australian Veterinary Association to condemn cruel live-export trade. To get involved in any of these actions, please email campaigns@peta.org. Join PETA’s Activist Network. Join PETA’s Asia-Pacific's Australian Activist Network

Click here to see living proof of why it's important to buy only wool alternatives.

www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=wool_web

Watch PETA's Australian Wool Investigation Video, Narrated by Pop Star Pink. Currently exploiting more than 100 million miserable sheep, Australia produces 30 percent of all wool used worldwide. Holdings consist of thousands of sheep, making individual attention to their needs and even to medical emergencies impossible. The Australian wool industry abuses sheep in two particularly horrific ways. First, the industry mutilates millions of lambs each year by cutting chunks of flesh from their backsides with a pair of shears—so far without any pain relief—in a practice known as "mulesing," even though humane alternatives are available. Then, when sheep are no longer useful to the wool industry, they are herded by the thousands onto death ships and transported thousands of miles through scorching heat and freezing cold to have their throats slit in filthy, open-air markets and barbaric slaughterhouses while they are still conscious. PETA is calling on consumers to check labels on sweaters before buying them and, if they're made out of merino wool or made in Australia, to leave them on the racks. To get your hands on the latest cruelty-free fashions, check out the PETA Mall or our cruelty-free clothing shopping guide. Boycott Australian wool until the cruel practices of mulesing and live exports are stopped. Use the form below to send a letter to the prime minister of Australia asking for a permanent ban on the cruel practices of mulesing and live exports. Personalized letters always work best. Feel free to use the following text, but your message will carry more weight if you write a customized message and subject line.

Take action on the issue :

http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/wool_boycott/i5dguwg9ld8md86

Help End the Hideously Cruel Live Export Industry

Every year, millions of Australian sheep are crammed onto multilevel, open-decked ships bound for ports in the Middle East and North Africa. When they arrive, they are dragged to shore as if they were sacks of coal, and their throats are cut while they are still conscious.

PETA US and Animals Australia have recently released the results of a joint undercover investigation that exposed unspeakable cruelty in the live-export trade. The horrors revealed in the investigation show the real-life experience of thousands upon thousands of sheep.

No animal should ever suffer the hellish conditions of the live-export trade or the terror of cruel slaughter methods. Take action below by contacting Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and asking her to put an end to this horrific practice today.
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SubjectI was horrified to learn about the cruelty involved in the live export of sheep from Australia to the Middle East.

Sheep are intelligent animals who feel pain and suffer, just as humans do. The treatment of sheep aboard ships and upon arrival in the Middle East would horrify any compassionate person.

Animals in the live-export trade are crammed onto extremely crowded multilevel ships and spend weeks in reeking, squalid conditions. There are so few workers that even basic care is impossible to guarantee. Exposure to extreme temperatures, starvation and painful and debilitating diseases are common and result in the deaths of thousands of sheep each year. I urge you to take immediate action to ban live exports of animals

Stand up for sheep – sign our petition

When sheep are no longer able to produce enough wool to generate profits for Australian farmers, these gentle animals are sold for slaughter and often begin a hellish, weeks-long journey to the Middle East and North Africa. In live export, terrified animals are crammed onto sweltering, multi-tiered ships, where they often endure weeks of utter misery. What awaits them at the end of their journey, if they survive the deplorable conditions on board, is equally horrifying.
You can support PETA's work to end this abuse by signing our petition to the Australian government right now!

Every year, millions of individual sheep are victims of the live-export trade. The voyage to abattoirs in the Middle East or Africa can take weeks, during which time it's not uncommon for sheep to succumb to the rampant disease and oppressive heat that are common on the ships or to fail to recognise the pellets in the feed trays as food. The bodies of dead animals are sometimes tossed overboard or thrown into massive grinders that spew their remains into the ocean.
When they reach the Middle East, the surviving sheep are often kicked, beaten and dragged off the ships by their ears, horns and legs. Some are then thrown into the backs of trucks, often sustaining broken limbs as a result, or stowed in the trunks of cars in the scorching heat. Almost all face a terrifying end in which their throats are cut while they are still conscious.
In 2005 PETA US and Australian activists released the results of a joint undercover investigation that exposed shocking cruelty to sheep in the live-export trade. The Australian Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry insists that the regulatory system is working, despite the fact that it was animal activists who documented cruelty in the live-export industry—not those responsible for government or industry oversight!
The time to stand up against the live-export trade is now!
I hope I can count on you – someone who truly cares deeply about animals – to support our efforts to end this and other abominable cruelty by signing our petition today.
Your signature will allow us to continue exposing the horrors of the wool, meat and live-export industries and organising attention-grabbing demonstrations that raise awareness and put pressure on decision-makers to make the critical changes needed to save animals' lives.
The international outcry sparked by the work of PETA and our affiliates has resulted in promises of industry and government reform, and a growing number of retailers – including Gap Inc, H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch, HUGO BOSS, Adidas and UNIQLO – are moving away from wool from mulesed lambs or have banned it outright. With the media's attention currently on the live-export trade, we must act now to fight against that abuse as well. No one speaks out for animals with a more powerful voice than PETA and our affiliates. From getting major companies to pledge not to conduct or fund animal tests to partnering with renowned celebrities and designers to promote cruelty-free fashion, PETA and our members and supporters like you are animals' best allies. With your help today, we can do even more to shut down the live-export trade. Please sign our petition to the Australian government right now. Millions of sheep need your support.