Activists crank up campaign against wool industry

01-03-2010 | Weekly Times, Australia

Renegade animal activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has ramped up its campaign against the Australian wool industry.

PETA as the group is known, for more than five years has pushed for retailers to dump Australian wool from mulesed sheep. Now it is urging a total boycott of wool because "the production of any kind of wool garment causes harm to the animals from whom the wool is taken".

In its latest campaign, "Have a heart: don't buy wool", PETA claims "sheep and other animals used for their wool are turned into living yarn factories and are denied everything that is natural and important to them".

The online campaign encourages buyers to instead seek out cotton, polyester or synthetic fabrics.

PETA has also accused Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) of wasting farmers' time and money by allowing mulesing to continue.

"It has become a maggot in the sheep farmer's backside," PETA said of AWI.

PETA Australia director of campaigns Jason Baker said it was up to Australian sheep farmers "to save their arses and the sheep's by taking the initiative to end cruel mulesing mutilations themselves".

Australian Wool Growers Association chairman Martin Oppenheimer dismissed the new campaign as "flawed" and accused PETA of acting in its own interests and not those of the Australian sheep flock.

"They are trying to make headlines for their own good," Oppenheimer said. "I don't think the campaign will be very damaging as long as consumers understand the Australian wool industry is changing."

Oppenheimer said it was disappointing the progress made by the Australian wool industry, particularly during the past four to five years, had been overlooked.

"That's where the campaign is misleading in not being transparent with the changes that have been made in terms of pain relief and the growing adoption of genetic selection for wrinkle-free sheep," he said.

Victorian Farmers Federation wool representative Geoff Fisken said he was not surprised PETA had stepped up its campaign to generate attention in the lead-up to the now-abandoned December 30 deadline to end mulesing.

"We are more concerned with the needs of our customers, the retailers and major brands than PETA's activity," Fisken said. "It's up to us to try and educate people that we are doing the right thing. That's the front we will fight on."

Animal Liberation NSW executive director Mark Pearson, who works with PETA on its anti-mulesing campaigns, said the wool industry only had itself to blame.

AWI and the Australian wool industry should have expected increased scrutiny since backing out of the 2010 deadline to end mulesing last year, he said.

"The industry has brought this on themselves because the industry failed to adhere to the deadline," Pearson said.

AWI told The Weekly Times it would make no comment on PETA's new campaign.

  Printable View