Warning – I am under the influence of mood altering drugs.
Pink has released a video for Peta asking people to boycott Australian wool because of cruelty in the wool industry.
I still buy Australian wool, but this does give me pause. Mulesing is done for the long term health of the sheep, but is only necessary because of selectively breeding for sheep that have more skin than they need to cover their bodies. More skin = more wool, hence the distinctive “collar” of the merino sheep. Unfortunately this loose skin can trap feces and make the sheep vulnerable to fly strike.
Fly strike in a sheep can go undetected for a very long time, and will often kill an animal before it is detected, especially if the sheep has a long fleece.
There are alternatives to mulesing, and there are anesthetics that can be used to ease the considerable pain. These options have not been explored, and I am not above putting a little pressure on the decision makers to consider more humane alternatives.
Read no further if you want to keep buying Australian wool without concern for the creatures that grew your yarn. While I would grant that prevention of a slow death is a laudable aim, I must question the methods.
Mulesing involves pinching a handful of skin above the vent, at the base of the spine, and using a razor sharp knife to remove the excess skin. The animals are given no pain relief, and are left to heal naturally.
I didn’t think much about this until I took a closer look at one of the pictures I took on monday. Here is a pic I took of the sheep on the road, in a slightly larger size. If you look closely, you can see that these sheep have been mutilated, many are still showing the raw pink scar tissue. The pictures aren’t too disturbing for those of weak stomachs, but I was surprised that I didn’t see this yesterday, but I did today.
Disco Knitter 