The Not-So-Good Shepherd

by Farm Sanctuary

In late 2003 more than 50,000 sheep languished at sea for months aboard the Cormo Express, an Australian "live export" ship.

Refused port by at least fifty countries, the sheep finally landed in Eritrea.

After the beleaguered sheep touched soil in the impoverished North African country, their throats were cut, one by one. That is, those who were still alive. Almost six thousand of the animals had died slowly and agonizingly beforehand aboard the ship.

They died of starvation, heatstroke, dehydration, or when their bodies could no longer take the stress of being locked in darkness amidst thousands of pounds of their own excrement, 100-plus degree heat, and no ventilation.

It was a direct result of the multi-million dollar a year wool industry.

U.S. textile mills use nearly four times more imported than domestically-produced wool. Much of it comes from Australia, the world’s top wool producer and exporter.

The source of all this wool is, of course, sheep — lots of them. And when wool-producing sheep pass their prime, they are sent to slaughter. Hence, Australia’s live-export trade.

Many ex-wool producing sheep from Australia are shipped off to Middle Eastern countries to satisfy the demands of Halal slaughter — which requires that the animal be fully conscious when slaughtered.

Since so much of U.S. wool is supplied by Australia, it’s not a far stretch to see how the U.S. wool products enable, and in fact support, the gruesome live-export trade to the Middle East.

Sheep exploited for wool in the U.S. also suffer from inhumane handling and transportation, and they face cruel ritual slaughter when they are no longer profitable to the wool industry.

The Cormo Express fiasco is not the first high-profile disaster to befall the live-export trade.

The Farid Fares kicked off the carnage in 1980 when it left for Iran with nearly 41,000 sheep. It caught fire and sank just off Australia's southern coast a short distance later.

Then, in 1996, the Uniceb left Australia for Jordan toward a similar fate. With 70,000 sheep aboard, it caught fire and sank in the Indian Ocean.

Just a few months later, the Guernsey Express sank off Guam, taking 1,600 Australian cattle down with it.

These graphic tales are by no means anomalous. The live-export trade is notorious for appallingly high mortality rates, even when the ships make it to the docks in one piece.

Sheep raised in the U.S. do not suffer the agony of live export to the Middle East, but they do suffer the cruelties of wool production, including painful mutilations that are done without anesthesia or pain reliever, including:

"Mulesing," or carving away large of strips of skin and flesh along the sheep’s backsides and hind legs, using large mulesing shears. The removal of this skin and flesh is necessary because the extra folds of skin in that area (a result of selective breeding) are a breeding ground for flies and maggots, which can burrow into the sheep and literally eat them alive.

Tail docking (cutting off the tails), is often done in conjunction with mulesing, to reduce feces and urine stains on the wool.

Painful castration of male lambs is done using either knives or rubber rings that cut off blood supply.

Sheep and lambs are either raised on factory farms, where they spend their entire lives in filthy, manure-filled warehouses, or they are raised "on the range" without any shelter from extreme weather conditions.

Thousands of lambs and sheep die every year from harsh conditions. Thousands more die from transportation and marketing practices, where sheep are severely overcrowded onto trucks.

Farm Sanctuary has documented dozens of cases of "downed" sheep at auctions and stockyards. Sheep and lambs too weak to even stand are just abandoned and left to die slowly from neglect.

After a lifetime of producing fiber, sheep (and their offspring) are sent to slaughter. The U.S. slaughters 3 million sheep and lambs every year.

The storybook vision of happy sheep, grazing contentedly in green fields under the benevolent watch of the good shepherd, is found only in fairy tales.

Choose synthetic, animal-free fibers to keep you warm and toasty this winter — and you’ll feel warm and toasty inside too.

Five Ways to Replace Wool...

1. Replace Wool Coats, Jackets & Suits with: Polar Fleece Jackets and Hoodies; Wool-free Pea Coats; Gore-Tex Windbreakers; Denim or Corduroy Jackets; Tencel Suits, Hemp and Micro Fiber Sport Coats

2. Replace Wool Gloves, Mittens, Hats, Headbands & Scarves with: Knit Hemp, Polar Fleece, Cotton, Corduroy, and Velvet

3. Replace Wool Sweaters with: Tencel Shirt Jackets; Velour and Satin Sweatshirts; Cotton Cardigans, Sweaters, Tunics, and Hoodies; Hemp Sweaters; Lightweight Fleece Shirts, Fleece Sweatshirts or Fleece Sleeveless Zippered Vests

4. Replace Wool Socks with: Polar Fleece Socks, Vegan "Wool" Socks, VersaTek Socks

5. Replace Wool Blankets with: Fleece, Cotton and Flannel Blankets, Afghans and Throws.

Shop for these and more wool alternatives at:

Pangea - 1-800-340-1200
Vegan Essentials - 1-866-88-VEGAN
The Vegetarian Site - 1-520-529-8691
Farm Sanctuary Store - 1-607-583-2225

For more cruelty-free resources and online shopping resources, visit www.vegforlife.org/wears.htm.

© 2004 Animal News Center, Inc.