UN INT Intro Text w/ Centered Large Responsive Image - *Important Note* You must UNLINK this shared library component before making page-specific customizations.
A gut-churning PETA US video exposé reveals that life is hell for lambs and other sheep exploited for so-called "responsibly sourced" wool on so-called "sustainable" farms. A witness found workers in Argentina hacking into fully conscious lambs, starting to skin some of them while they were still alive and kicking and otherwise mutilating, abusing and neglecting lambs and sheep on farms in the Ovis 21 network – wool supplier of Patagonia, which has stores in countries around the world.
Update: Under pressure from consumers who have pledged to bury, burn, return or give away anything they have from the Patagonia brand and never buy from it again, Patagonia has gone beyond apologising and now says it will not buy more wool until it can extract certain assurances from its supplier. On August 17, 2015, following PETA US' exposé, Patagonia announced that it was dropping Ovis 21 as a supplier and would not buy wool again until the company could be assured of "the humane treatment of animals". PETA US praises the new move, as all steps in the right direction are good steps, but cautions that as Patagonia delves deeper into the wool supply chain, it will find that cruelty will always be a part of wool production, as we have found in Australia, the US and now Argentina. If the company is honest, we doubt it could return to buying real wool again.
Bound by Their Legs, Slashed Open and Skinned While Still Alive and Kicking
Workers picked up gentle lambs and – while the animals were fully conscious – tied their legs together, plunged knives into their throats and sawed through their necks. Blood poured from the wounds as they kicked with their only free leg.
Workers then snapped their heads backwards, apparently trying to break their necks.
Even after all that, some of the lambs still managed to cry out and gasp.
Minutes later, some lambs were still alive and kicking when a worker drove a knife into their legs to start skinning them. Eventually, they were hacked apart. Their organs were carved out of their bodies and their severed heads dumped into a bloody tub.
All this happened in full view of other lambs. They were just feet away and cried out in what must have been terror and severe distress.
Older sheep – used for their wool, then no longer wanted – were lined up, tackled and dragged away to be shipped to slaughter.
Ears Mutilated, Tails Cut Off, Castrated – All Without Pain Relief
As is common in the wool industry, lambs who were kept for their wool endured hideous mutilations – all without anaesthetics or any pain relief.
A manager used a tool similar to pliers to cut out pieces of the lambs' sensitive ears, which dripped blood onto his hands. He wiped the blood off on one of the lambs.
He also put a tight ring around one lamb's scrotum, which is extremely painful. These rings cut off the blood supply to the testicles, which are expected to shrivel and die over the course of several weeks.
Then, another worker cut off their tails. Lambs are prey animals who suffer in silence, rather than drawing attention to themselves and attracting further predation, but they struggled as much as they could while the workers restrained them. They were then unceremoniously dumped onto the ground, where they huddled together as blood dripped from their ears and the stumps of their tails.
The man just tossed their mutilated tails onto the ground.
Stomped and Cut Open During Shearing, Left to Suffer, Die and Be Eaten
This exposé found cruelty among Argentina's shearing crews similar to that documented in Australia and the US in 2014.
Shearers stamped and stood on sheep's legs. Fast, rough shearing left them cut up and bleeding.
One sheep's internal tissue protruded from a serious shearing wound. A worker dragged the bloodied sheep away. Another worker, carrying a needle and thread, followed. After evidently having crudely sewed up the gaping wound without any pain relief, the men dragged the sheep back and clipped off the rest of the wool. The next day, a worker said that the sheep had died as a result of the wound and would be eaten by the workers, but the shearer who had mortally wounded the sheep was right back on the job.
One sheep, whose back right leg was broken, was sheared and left in a pen – in pain and without any care – for at least an hour before being slaughtered and eaten, according to a manager.
You Can Help Stop This!
No matter where wool comes from, whether it's "responsibly sourced" or from a "sustainable" farm, it's the needless product of a cruel business. There is simply no way to raise and kill animals for the mass market in a humane way. To protect sheep from this abuse, please, refuse to buy wool. It's easy to check the label when you're shopping. If it says "wool", leave it on the shelf.