What about wool?
It's fine to take wool from sheep
There are two important points to consider with animal products we often feel the animals don't suffer to produce. Things such as wool, milk or eggs, where we like to imagine that the animals supplying them live a regular, happy and natural existence.
The first is that all animal exploitation industries (be they wool, eggs, milk or meat) are slaughter industries. Despite what the adverts would have you believe there is simply no industry where animals get to live a long and happy life and die of old age.
The second point is a simple one, it's the fact that animals do not make their wool (or any other parts of their body) for us to take from them. Animals exist for their own reasons, not ours, and taking from others without consent is something we all teach our children (and agree on as a society) is inherently wrong - but then we conveniently sidestep our own moral position for something as trivial as a scarf or a hat.
The first is that all animal exploitation industries (be they wool, eggs, milk or meat) are slaughter industries. Despite what the adverts would have you believe there is simply no industry where animals get to live a long and happy life and die of old age.
The second point is a simple one, it's the fact that animals do not make their wool (or any other parts of their body) for us to take from them. Animals exist for their own reasons, not ours, and taking from others without consent is something we all teach our children (and agree on as a society) is inherently wrong - but then we conveniently sidestep our own moral position for something as trivial as a scarf or a hat.
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All farm animals (sheep bred for wool included) have also been genetically manipulated over time to produce incredibly high yields at much higher rates than they would in nature (always to the detriment of the animals' health). Even on farms that claim to 'care' about animal welfare the wellbeing of the animals will always come second to profit - to do things the other way around would be financial suicide.
This high-yield selective breeding however, means the animals' rate of production soon begins to slow - their bodies are simply unable to maintain the incredibly high outputs we've bred into them. It's at this point, still at a fraction of their natural lifespan, that the animals are slaughtered and replaced with younger ones (usually their own offspring) to ensure that profits continue.
Artificially breeding animals into existence so we can take what we want from them, then killing them when
they can give no more is not somehow moral just because we're able to do it, or because it is legal and considered 'normal' by society. One doesn't have to look back very far to find human slavery, racial segregation, women as property and other unethical acts that were considered both 'normal' and completely legal at the time.
In fact the billions of animals we exploit are in even more vulnerable a position than the oppressed groups mentioned above. Animals lack the voice that human victims of oppression at least have, which is why it's vital to think carefully about the ethics of what we do with them, that we try to do what's right by them, and that we act as their voices instead.
This high-yield selective breeding however, means the animals' rate of production soon begins to slow - their bodies are simply unable to maintain the incredibly high outputs we've bred into them. It's at this point, still at a fraction of their natural lifespan, that the animals are slaughtered and replaced with younger ones (usually their own offspring) to ensure that profits continue.
Artificially breeding animals into existence so we can take what we want from them, then killing them when
they can give no more is not somehow moral just because we're able to do it, or because it is legal and considered 'normal' by society. One doesn't have to look back very far to find human slavery, racial segregation, women as property and other unethical acts that were considered both 'normal' and completely legal at the time.
In fact the billions of animals we exploit are in even more vulnerable a position than the oppressed groups mentioned above. Animals lack the voice that human victims of oppression at least have, which is why it's vital to think carefully about the ethics of what we do with them, that we try to do what's right by them, and that we act as their voices instead.
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For specific acts of suffering caused directly by the wool industry our main port of call is Australia, where the majority of the world's wool is produced. This fact alone should give pause for concern as it doesn't take a genius to imagine what life must be like for a sheep, genetically manipulated to produce a huge, thicker-than-usual woolen coat, living under the stifling Australian sun. But as is so often the case with animal agriculture,
as long as the animals can be kept alive and in production, their comfort and welfare is of secondary (or no) concern.
Sheep used by the wool industry have been genetically altered to have large folds of skin on their bodies.
More surface skin means more surface wool and thus more profit is made. Doing this has made the sheep prone to a particularly horrible condition known as 'flystrike'. Flystrike occurs thanks to infestations of blowfly around the sheep's anus where faeces and urine become dried onto the excess folds of wool - an inevitable consequence of the large skin folds deliberately bred into them.
Flystrike is deadly to sheep and to combat its effects a particularly awful procedure known as 'mulesing' is performed, where chunks of flesh are sliced from around the animals backside. It's claimed of course that
mulesing is done in the animals' best interest and to stop them getting sick, but it's important to remember that we've deliberately bred these problems into the animals in the first place, and that we continue to breed them into this miserable existence in their millions for a product that's completely unnecessary.
Whilst sheep in cooler parts of the world may not suffer the cruelty of mulesing there is no legal requirement
to label the country of origin of wool, and wool produced in Australia is the most common in the world.
Wherever they're raised though, sheep used for wool still suffer some or all of the other industry standard practices including castration, tail removal and ear-punching - all conducted without pain relief.
Sheep also suffer rough, sometimes brutal shearing and in cases where the farm also produces meat, they suffer repeated forced impregnation and removal of their babies for slaughter. Finally, after all they are put through, they are sent to slaughter themselves, still within a fraction of their natural lifespan.
as long as the animals can be kept alive and in production, their comfort and welfare is of secondary (or no) concern.
Sheep used by the wool industry have been genetically altered to have large folds of skin on their bodies.
More surface skin means more surface wool and thus more profit is made. Doing this has made the sheep prone to a particularly horrible condition known as 'flystrike'. Flystrike occurs thanks to infestations of blowfly around the sheep's anus where faeces and urine become dried onto the excess folds of wool - an inevitable consequence of the large skin folds deliberately bred into them.
Flystrike is deadly to sheep and to combat its effects a particularly awful procedure known as 'mulesing' is performed, where chunks of flesh are sliced from around the animals backside. It's claimed of course that
mulesing is done in the animals' best interest and to stop them getting sick, but it's important to remember that we've deliberately bred these problems into the animals in the first place, and that we continue to breed them into this miserable existence in their millions for a product that's completely unnecessary.
Whilst sheep in cooler parts of the world may not suffer the cruelty of mulesing there is no legal requirement
to label the country of origin of wool, and wool produced in Australia is the most common in the world.
Wherever they're raised though, sheep used for wool still suffer some or all of the other industry standard practices including castration, tail removal and ear-punching - all conducted without pain relief.
Sheep also suffer rough, sometimes brutal shearing and in cases where the farm also produces meat, they suffer repeated forced impregnation and removal of their babies for slaughter. Finally, after all they are put through, they are sent to slaughter themselves, still within a fraction of their natural lifespan.
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The bottom line here is that a sheep's wool simply doesn't belong to us. Even if we find a source that doesn't seem quite as cruel as others, by choosing to purchase and wear wool we're creating continued demand and perpetuating the view that commodifying living beings and taking their lives, all for products we don't even need, is a morally acceptable way to behave.
At the end of the day the question we should ask ourselves is why, when there are so many alternatives available, would we make choices that involve harming and killing others when we could simply wear something else instead?
At the end of the day the question we should ask ourselves is why, when there are so many alternatives available, would we make choices that involve harming and killing others when we could simply wear something else instead?
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Erin Janus: The Wool Industry Exposed
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"The problem is that humans have victimized animals to such a degree that they are
not even considered victims. They are not even considered at all. They are nothing.
They don't count; they don't matter; they're commodities like TV sets and cell phones.
We have actually turned animals into inanimate objects - sandwiches and shoes."
Gary Yourofsky
not even considered victims. They are not even considered at all. They are nothing.
They don't count; they don't matter; they're commodities like TV sets and cell phones.
We have actually turned animals into inanimate objects - sandwiches and shoes."
Gary Yourofsky