The term wool is used to designate the fur of sheep, sheepdogs, rabbits, camels, lamas, vigunas, alpacas, guantas, Kashmir goats, Tibetan antelopes and other animals.
SHEEPS
Most of the world wool comes from Australia. The most frequently raised sheeps in this country are merinos which are specifically bred to have wrinkled skin, which means more wool per animal. This unnatural overload of wool causes many problems for the sheep. Some collapse and even die from sunburn (heat sickness) during the hot months. The wrinkles collect urine and moisture. Attracted by the moisture, flies throw eggs into the skin folds and hatched worms can eat the sheep alive. This causes the sheared sheeps to suffer from multiple infections. For many, they are fatal and end up with death.
In order to prevent this worm infestation, many farmers carry out barbaric procedures called “mulesing”, in which they tie sheeps on their backs with legs trapped in metal grills, and often, without any painkillers, cut off huge pieces of fur from the animal’s backside or attach tight brackets to tear flesh apart until they die or break away. Both procedures are terribly painful. “Mulesing” is a rough attempt to create a smoother skin that will not collect moisture, but exposed bloody wounds are often infected by flies.
Many sheeps who have suffered mutilations (“Mulesing”) suffer slowly and prolonged, agonizing to death, eaten alive by the worms of the flies.
H & M, Perry Ellis, the main fashion house HUGO BOSS, the sports giant Adidas and many other companies have promised to withdraw from the “mulesing” wave or make a direct ban on wool produced from sheep that went through “mulesing”. You can also help by not buying wool of any kind.
Most of the people do not understand why vegans do not use wool products. The wool industry, however, not only exploits sheep, but is also very cruel to them.
Do the sheep need to be sheared? Are the sheep really those strange creatures that grow so much fur in their winter that they need human help? No. Like cats, dogs, and all other animals, when it gets hot, the fur just falls as much as needed. The process is called flushing. Sheep are sheared during the spring when it is still cold, because later on when it becomes warmer, their fur naturally begins to fall and that would mean loss of wool. Around one million sheeps die each year from untimely shearing. Another problem is that workers are not paid per hour but on volume. Experienced workers chop 350 sheeps a day and this pace is maintained for up to four weeks. As a result, the workers process the animals very roughly and many sheeps are injured.
Caught in cages
When the fur production decreases, sheeps are sold for slaughter. Millions of lambs and sheeps are exported for slaughter each year. In Australia and Europe, they travel long distances before reaching crowded places where animals are held before being loaded on ships.
Transport
The sheeps that survive the cages are crammed tightly into ships. Lambs born during the journey are often trampled to death. Many sheep are injured or die. In Europe and Australia they have to travel long distances in tightly packed trucks without food or water. They are often exported to countries with minimum slaughter rules where the sheeps are often conscious while being dissected.
Other procedures performed without anesthesia include drilling a hole in the ears of the lambs a few weeks after birth, trimming their tails and castration of the males. Castrations are performed when male lambs are between 2 and 8 weeks old using a rubber ring to stop their bleeding.
Ultra-fine wool
Sheeps that are exploited to produce ultra-fine wool live in small cages 24 hours a day for 5 years or more. The cages are covered with a nylon cover to protect animal wool as much as possible from dust and other dirt. These sheeps show signs of chronic stress, which is typical for animals in captivity: they gnaw the metal parts of the cage and make repetitive movements. Additionally, there is a belief that sheeps that weight less (malnourished sheep) produce a finer wool. Therefore, it is likely that in addition to the other cruelties they are subjected to, they are also kept constantly hungry.
OTHER TYPES OF WOOL
It can be called wool, mohair, pashmina, canvas or cashmere. But no matter how it is called, all types of wool mean suffering for the animals. Cashmere is made from the fur of cashmere goats that are grown by millions of people in China and Mongolia who dominate the market for this “luxury” material. According to workers in this industry, shearing is extremely harsh for animals and deprives them from their natural isolation, leaving them vulnerable to low temperatures and illnesses. The places where cashmere goats live are extremely cold and windy. Merino or cashmere are combined with opossum’s fur to create a “Perino”. Opossums are hunted for their fur.
Angora rabbits can be tied to a shearing board and kick violently as a protest, while razor blades or scissors inevitably bite their flesh. Angora rabbits have very delicate paw pads, so they often develop painful sores on the feet when they are forced to spend their lives standing on the floor of wire cages. Female rabbits produce more wool than males, so large farms kill the males after birth. In many countries, it is common practice for Angora rabbits to be plucked with hands. In some Chinese farms, for example, it is documented how Angora rabbits are plucked with bare hands while rabbits scream in pain – a process that they are forces to go through every three months for two to five years. As a matter of fact, China is the second largest producer of wool after Australia.
Shahtoosh is made of the fur of an endangered Tibetan antelope. Because Tibetan antelopes cannot be domesticated, they are killed before their wool is taken. Although it has been illegal to sell or own shahtoosh products since 1976, thousands of Tibetan antelopes are killed every year for scarves sold on the black market.
What can we do?
Use wool alternatives including cotton, rayon, synthetic leather and other cruelty-free fibers, as people with wool allergies have been doing for years. A relatively new wool substitute is Tencel/ Lyocell, which is breathable, durable and biodegradable. Polartec Wind Pro, which is mainly made from recycled plastic bottles, is a high-density fiber with four times better wind resistance than wool and also removes moisture.
The vegan alternative to the wool is easy to find and will keep you warm and cozy without contributing to cruelty.