Several reasons why I don’t support the wool industry

(disclaimer: I will never insert pictures which might be too extreme/revealing for some)
It’s been a while since I spread the good vegan vibes!
So here’s a post about something that’s often overlooked..
When becoming vegan I didn’t think about the use of wool at first, but very soon I was educated on the subject and never bought any products with wool again.

Many animal right advocates/vegans often overlook wool, because at first it’s not linked to the death or pain of an animal.
Most people don’t understand why vegans avoid wool products. Sheep have to be shorn, right?
Well, no and I’ll ”happily” explain why! Just keep reading..

Wool production is an industry that thrives on using sheep as resource for their product and their profit.
Using animals for the mere cause of gaining something out of it ourselves is never acceptable.
Sheep in the wool industry are not only exploited, it’s also very cruel to them.
As what happens in the leather and fur industry(but still people wear this stuff too..)
Sheep are just like any other animal gentle individuals who feel pain, fear and loneliness.

Sheep
Rabbits
Alpaca’s
Goats

These animals suffer because human kind wants to wear or use their fluffy and beautiful fur.
The fur they were gifted with to keep them warm and to protect their skin.

Sheep don’t have to be shorn
Sheep are just like chickens and many other animals very domesticated.
This means they are selectively bred to change certain qualities in favor of ‘human needs’.
Sheep are bred to grow a thick heavy coat. So thick that they need humans to help them out..
Merino sheep have been bred to have wrinkly skin to produce more wool. Their coats are so thick that they die of heat exhaustion during hot months..
When the domesticated sheep are not able to shed their fleece, their wool will grow longer and longer while flies lay eggs the folds of their skin. The hatched maggots can eat the sheep’s skin while it’s alive.. this is called flystrike.

Mulesing
About half of the world’s merino wool comes from Australia, where the act of mulesing is very present..
The wrinkled skin of the merino sheep produces excess moisture which attracts the flies. To prevent flystrike from uccuring the wool industry cuts off the skin and flesh from around a lamb’s hindquarters. Generally without anesthesia.
This is called mulesing.

Shearing is not friendly
Shearers are usually paid by volume and not by the hour, which encourages fast work instead of gentle handling of the sheep.
Come on, they are not a pack of cereal you just throw in your shopping basket!
The shearing leads to wounds and other injury’s. If the wounds are treated it’s done without any pain relief.
Sheep are sheared in the spring, just before they would naturally shed their winter coats.
They are sheared when it’s still too cold, because waiting too long means a loss of wool.
About a million sheep die every year because of the premature shearing.

Transportation
In Europe sheep and other animals travel long distances in tightly packed trucks without food or water.
They are frequently transported to country’s with minimal slaughter regulations which makes it cheaper and easier.. they are often still conscious while being slaughtered.
In many other country’s (like Australia) the sheep have to be shipped overseas.
This happens on crowded multilevel ships where they’re put in holding pens.
These trips sometimes last weeks and the sheep suffer while they’re on their way to country’s where animal welfare standards are non-existent(the middle east).
A lot of sheep get inured or die in the holding pens and lambs born during this ”voyage” are often trampled to death
How do you think loading the sheep on and off the ships/trucks happens?
They are dragged, pulled, beaten, kicked and yelled at. I was a witness myself and that was on a small town farm!!

The sheep industry is comparable to the dairy industry
It’s know that in the dairy industry when a cow doesn’t produce enough milk anymore she is brought to slaughter.
She is not of use anymore and it will only cost the company money..
The same happens with sheep who don’t produce enough wool anymore. They are brought to slaughter.
Which is the next stage of hell for them..

Other matters
Within a few weeks after birth, lambs their ears are hole-punched and they are given a number.
Their tails are chopped off so other sheep don’t chew them off from frustration.
Males are castrated without painkillers, when they are between 2 and 8 weeks old.
Every year, hundreds of lambs die before the age of 8 weeks from exposure or starvation, and mature sheep die every year from disease, lack of shelter and/or from getting neglected.

Pink (singer) speaks up for sheep:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=6DPdgOWnz1w

Please, don’t let a ‘fashion statement’ cost the lives of billions and billions of sheep and other fluffy animals

Picture source: 
http://www.veganfoodandliving.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/iStock-518366796.jpg

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