Australia produces over 50 percent of the world’s merino wool (Peta 2016), which are used for coats, carpet, ugg-boots, and other apparels. There is a large market for sheep’s wool, where sheep are treated as wool-producing subjects. Sheep in the wool industry experience premature death. They suffer in confined pens for months at a time, bred for the sake of wool (AnimalsAustralia 2016). They use their wool to survive, for efficient insulation against both the cold and the heat.
Sheep’s are gentle individuals that are able to feel pain and fear. The shearers are paid by volume, not by the hour, which encourages fast work with no regard to the welfare of the sheep. This rushed and thoughtless sense of shearing creates injuries for the sheep. These injuries are then sewn shut with just a needle and thread, without any pain relievers (Peta 2016). Skin, tails and even ears can be cut or ripped off during shearing (Peta 2016). A hot blade is used to cut through the muscle and bone of the lamb’s tail (tail docking), often without any numbing medication (AnimalsAustralia 2016). PETA has investigated more than 30 shearing sheds in Australia and America uncovered horrific abuse (Peta 2016). The sheep were subjected to kicks, stomps, and being hit.
There are many faux wool alternatives that are quite durable, stylish, as well as able to keep you warm during the winter seasons. Please help sheep around the world by not choosing to purchase wool, to help stop the gory and cruel industry.
🎀🐰
LW.
References
Animalsaustralia.org 2016, Tell the wool industry: surgery hurts!, Accessed 2nd October 2016, <http://www.animalsaustralia.org/take_action/surgery-hurts>
PETA 2016, What’s wrong with wearing wool?, Accessed 2nd October 2016, <http://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/whats-wrong-with-wearing-wool/>
FurForFashion 
Very insightful blog post on wool! Damn, I never knew sheep would actually go through so much pain, so people can feel comfortable walking around in the winter time! I mean I can imagine the reverse for us humans, what if a certain entity cut off out hair and used for wearables? (Seems gross tbh. Hahaha!)
— Keep up with the good work.
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Hey, thanks for the post! Whilst I do agree that there are definitely cases where sheep are harmed in the shearing process, I do think that there is some justification for shearing practices. The farming of wool has had a long history, and as a result, many of the sheep that are kept on farms have been selectively bred to grow their wool past the point of practicality. These breed of sheep require routine shearing in order to prevent over heating or a loss of mobility.
That being said, the issue of certain breeds of sheep that grow too much wool would not have been an issue if wool was not harvested in the first place.
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Thank you for commenting :)! A very important topic you have brought up and I have to agree, it is important that some of these sheep do require to be sheared, it is just unfortunate that they are bred purely for this requirement, and that some shearers do not take care of the wellbeing of their sheep being shorn 😦
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