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Myth: Wool Doesn’t Hurt Sheep

The Myth

“Sheep aren’t hurt for their wool, and they need to be sheared anyway.”

The Facts

Sigh. Where have we heard this one before? “…milking cows doesn’t hurt them” (MYTH), “eating eggs doesn’t hurt chickens” (MYTH) … seeing a pattern here? Anytime someone who’s in the business of exploiting animals (or in the business of being a genuine douche) starts something off with “but, it doesn’t hurt the [insert animal here],” you can mostly guarantee that it’s complete BS.

Without human interference, sheep would produce just enough wool to protect themselves from temperature extremes—but now in Australia (where 25% of all wool comes from), sheep are mulesed and sheared for profit.

Australian ranchers perform the barbaric operation of mulesing by carving huge strips of skin and flesh off the backs of lambs’ legs and around their tails. This is done to cause smooth, scarred skin that won’t harbor fly eggs, yet the bloody wounds often get flystrike before they heal. In addition, once their bodies are worn out and they stop producing an “acceptable” amount of wool, sheep are sent to slaughter.

If you don’t support cruelty to animals, don’t buy wool. Simple, eh?

Comment below with a common myth YOU hear and we’ll tackle some here in the future!

- Rachelle from peta2

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