Pink Calls for Wool Boycott
Thursday December 21, 2006
 Getty Images The pop star Pink has joined forces with People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), asking that consumers boycott products made with Australian wool because of the country’s treatment of sheep, The Daily Telegraph of Australia reports. The 27-year-old singer (whose real name is Alecia Moore) also calls on Australia and other countries to ban the live export of sheep to the Middle East. "Sadly, like any other industry that uses animals, the wool trade uses methods so sadistic that it makes you consider clearing your closet of any animal products." On Wednesday, the rocker held a press conference in the fashion capital of the world, Paris, to state her pro-sheep position. The event coincided with PETA’s release of a graphic video narrated by Pink. The campaign was strategically launched during the holiday gift-giving season, according to the Telegraph. The video shows Australian farmers using the mulesing technique, which involves cutting flesh from the rear ends of sheep. The technique is to prevent maggot infestation in the animal and a potentially fatal condition called flystrike. Pink describes mulesing as the "cheapest, cruelest and crudest way" to combat flystrike. The footage also shows sheep being beaten, having their throats slit, and in one scene it is alleged that a sheep has its leg cut off while still alive. If the label lists "merino wool" or "made in Australia", the songstress is asking consumers not buy it. "I am calling on consumers to check labels on sweaters before buying them, and if they're merino wool or made in Australia, to leave them on the racks," Pink says in the video. Peter Costello, Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia, responded by dismissing the singer’s crusade. ``I don't know if Pink is an expert on the sheep industry,'' Costello told reporters. ``You know, Pink is entitled to her views, but at the end of the day would Australia's farmers take advice from Pink?'' Talk to Us: What do you think of Pink's campaign on behalf of Australian sheep?
  Posted by Noelle Hancock at 12:01 pm ET
94 Comments
11:33 AM
WHO CARES Says:
somebody here said to kill for fashion is one thing....well the sweater and wool is going to be used one way or another. even if people do not buy it, the racks are going to be stacked with merino wool and so on. well it's not killing for fashion...it's actually companies killing for profit, which is the american way of life. GO USA!
2:12 AM
Min Kim Says:
To kill to eat is one thing, not that we Americans really need to eat to survive considering 70% of the population are lardasses. Anyway, to kill for fashion just really sucks. To torture a living animal that knows love and pain just as we do, to skin them alive while they are fully conscious is sick to me, and it's even sickening to know it that we do all this in the name of FASHION. I love PINK - She is awesome!
3:15 AM
Lacey & Mhairi Says:
... Really, some of you people eg; Melanie; are absolutely retarded. Sheep do not have the "wool ripped off of them" They are shorn, by professionals who do this for a living. The Austalian wool trade is a thriving industry that takes its welfare of animals very seriously. Just because one person may treat a sheep badly, does not mean everyone else does; and face it probably has nothing to do with getting wool. Shearing sheep is not fatal. (The sheep that apparently got its leg cut off, would have not been being shorn... If that happened at all)
3:52 PM
Anonymous Says:
matt, the shepherd is absolutely right....I raised sheep for a number of years and if you have ever seen a flock become afflicted with flystrike you would be absolutely sick....the maggots eat the sheep from the inside out....much better to crotch them....as far as PETA....get a life!!!!
7:17 PM
matt Says:
Taking a deep breath for calm here. I'm an Australian sheep farmer running around 5000 Merino sheep for wool production. The wellbeing of the sheep I run directly affects my ability to make money. Healthy, well fed sheep grow lots of quality wool. Stressed sheep don't. Treating sheep well makes money - being cruel is not only psychopathic but a quick way of going broke.
Wool production does not involve killing the sheep, ripping the skin off or harming the animal - the wool is shorn off (same principal as getting a buzz cut at the barbers) once a year which takes a good shearer about five minutes. Wool is also one of the few environmentally sustainable fibres around - it doesn't require fossil fuels to produce (unlike manmade fibres which are made from petrochemicals), a wornout garment breaks down organically when thrown away (unlike synthetics) and while the sheep are running around eating grass, they are producing wool all year round.
I don't mules my sheep, but in some areas it is necessary. Mulesing involves cutting the top layer of skin (not the flesh) on two folds of skin around the backside of the sheep so that the area is smooth and flies can't lay their eggs in the folds leading to flystrike (maggots). It is done once in the sheep's life when they are small lambs. The process is being phased out as newer and better technologies come on line.
PS Pink is the second celebrity to be duped by PETA on wool issues and to apologise to Australian farmers.
7:59 AM
Rob Says:
Go to today.ninemsn.com.au for a video where Pink admits she didn't do her research and was ill-informed and used by PETA.
8:59 PM
Karen Says:
I agree that PETA may blow isolated incidinces out of proportion, but it is still wrong what people do to these animals. The animals serve us w/ great things like meat, milk, fur, wool - and this is the thanks they get? God created them just like us - we will all be accountable for our actions. Whether you believe in God, Karma or whatever. So even if animals dont have souls - are you saying they dont have nerves to feel pain? They cant say "ouw! Cut the shit! That hurts!" So that makes it okay to cut off their legs or flesh? Or whatever else? People resort to disgusting measures to make an extra buck - Im all set with the wool, its itchy anyway! Make an example out of these farms by boycotting , send a message. HELLO!!! This is unacceptable!!
8:49 PM
Melanie Says:
Ruggbutt, get a girlfriend/wife and get laid, you're an idiot!
I'm not saying that just because a celebrity is making people aware of such things, that this is why I have such harsh feelings on the mis-treatment of wool being pulled from sheep... far from it!
Whether PETA is "making it up" or not, I'm simply saying that this is not the right way! I've been to several places where they make wool, I've seen how it's done, and I know that the statement above is not a reasonable way to get the wool from sheep. They shouldn't be killed for it in the ways they were.
11:36 AM
Not all women are stupid Says:
Are you people serious? With everything going wrong in the world, you've decided to fall blindly behind a celebrity and accept PETA's view of how the world works? Where's the outrage and threats of economic boycotts over the genocide in Darfur region of the Sudan? How about some tears over the plight of the disadvantaged and homeless in this country? If you feel so horrible about wearing wool, why not donate it to a charitable organization? You've already paid for it; someone who will appreciate the unparalleled warmth of wool may as well wear it to keep from freezing this winter.
As a spinner and a knitter, I like to think I keep up with the ongoings of the fiber world. For all of you saying technology offers us better solutions than animal fibers, there isn't a synthetic fiber available that retains heat as well as wool. Wool will keep you warm even if it's soaking wet. I'd offer up alpaca as an alternative to wool as it retains heat even better, but then someone would call for a boycott of goods from South America.
Isolated instances of animal cruelty does not automatically mean it is a widespread practice and everything even remotely associated to that industry as a whole is evil just because PETA says so. Try doing some independent research, aka don't take PETA's word for it, and learn to form your own opinions.
8:53 AM
ruggbutt Says:
Melanie, try using some common sense. Say you're in business delivering wool to textile mills. You have a renewable resource but you rip the wool from the sheep? Potentially causing death and damaging your investment? Something doesn't sound right with this story. Let's say I've got a shipping business, does it make sense to me to destroy one of my computers that I use to ship my clients' packages?
I have a hard time believing that they know how to shear sheep here in the U.S. but not in Oz. As we know there have been plenty of lies told by the animal rights activists in the past. It just doesn't make sense as a businessman to harm or destroy part of your investment. I bet you never looked at it from that point of view. Like most women you looked at the story emotionally and didn't consider that the numbers just don't add up. That's why women are second class citizens in this day and age. You don't think rationally. You let your emotions guide you.
7:22 PM
Melanie Says:
I didn't read this whole thread of comments, but the ones I DID read, disgust me! Pam, Ruggbutt and Angeleyes, are ridiculous and immature! To get wool , it shouldn't be ripping the skin off of a sheep, and the sheep shouldn't deserve to have it's throat slashed or legs cut off while still alive! Everywhere else the sheep is simply shaved, and not left to bleed to death or die in a horrific way! I'm assuming these idiots on here who think this is normal, must have had a horrible childhood. Grow up!
2:38 AM
ruggbutt Says:
Lovely M, have you ever had a sheep look you in the eyes and telepathically tell you to kill someone? I've had it happen. Sheep are the only animals that do that. They look innocent but they're pure evil.
12:46 PM
lovely m Says:
im sorry to say this but this goes to RUGGBUTT-you seriously are an idiot! im not trying to offend anyone but i cant help it when people are that dumb honestly! go back to school--how can u blame sheep for what ignorant selfish people do?? common now...how old are you...jesus!!! and for miss kriss--i hope one day u get hurt the way these animals do and then tell me if that crap was GREAT..you people make me sick dude...damn! your the type of people that make this world how it is--SICK and REPUGNANT!
11:04 AM
miss kriss Says:
PETA makes me laugh. A lot. I'll be enjoying my lovely chicken dinner tonight, possibly wearing a wool sweater. PS-I also work as a scientist, OH NO! But seriously, I am all for better methods of things, however, these hypocrites go about it in completely the wrong way.
11:36 PM
ruggbutt Says:
Pam, what do you look like? Post a link to a pic.
6:38 PM
Anonymous Says:
wow, PAM, I'd like to skin you and wear it. You're a complete waste of oxygen.
4:24 PM
ruggbutt Says:
I bit into a pickle the other day and I heard it scream.
6:22 PM
PAM Says:
Also, all of you people comparing animals to humans, STOP IT!!! Animals don't have souls and people do. I mean, the next thing you know we can't eat corn or something because it hurt the corn to have the ear ripped off the stalk. Give me a break!!!
6:20 PM
PAM Says:
I think we should prioritize. It would probably serve this planet better if Pink and others used their celebrity to help truly important causes like starvation, poverty, illiteracy, etc. I mean, people still don't have homes in New Orleans and you are all concerned about a bunch of g.d. sheep. I think people are more important than animals and thus should be helped first!!!
1:41 PM
angeleyes Says:
the comment about the nazis and the jews was tastless and somthing you should have kept to yourself also God put animals on this earth for us wheather we eat them wear them or pet them its your choice and all a gift from God nobody says to eat your dog
1:19 PM
Anonymous Says:
Animals need to be protected. We are not living like the Ingall's family anymore and there are so many choices to eat and wear besides abusing animals. All I ask is that people at least try.
12:41 AM
spambot Says:
That would make sense if the nazis eat the jews.
Right?
12:31 AM
ruggbutt Says:
If it doesn't wear a collar, it's not someone's pet. And AFAIC it's ok as long as you eat what you kill. That Tomcat was a bit stringy but it tasted great in Chimichangas.
12:29 AM
spambot Says:
The thing is that there are people that would kill peoples pets when they piss on peoples rims. I'll call them phycos.
Have fun burning in hell, ruggbutt :p
12:24 AM
spambot Says:
Uhu
12:19 AM
Beavis Says:
I did some checking, as I know a few Kiwis who live in Oz and here's what I found out. The first thing is that Merino wool is the actual name of the sheep. There was a poll taken for 2006 and Merino is the most popular name for male sheep. Second place is Frank. For female sheep Merino is in third place as most popular. I suppose that the name Merino is suitable for both genders, kinda like the name Tracy (or according to Johnny Cash, Sue).
So now we have a problem with wool coming from the same herd of Aussie sheep that won't bear the name "Merino". But still we have the same things happening to the sheep that Pink describes in the article. I suggest the first thing we need to do is to get the Australian government to pass a law that ALL sheep be named Merino so that we won't be snookered by a simple name change.
I'm from Arkansas and I can tell you first hand that sheep are wonderful animals and are extremely friendly, especially the female ones. Some of them have real pretty eyes.
11:03 PM
kk Says:
As soon as I read this I threw all me jcrew shirts that said merino wool in the trash this afternoon. i feel so bad for wearing them all this time. But now i feel better and will always read the tags before purchasing
10:08 PM
spambot Says:
@ ruggbutt
You are wrong, Genghis Khan was the leader of the mongol horde and did not ride on sheeps but on horses. Get your facts straight.
BTW: it's "contemporary illuminati"!
9:52 PM
spambot Says:
A.L.F. does a better job than peta and pink makes lousy music.
9:27 PM
ruggbutt Says:
Pink should keep to things she kinda knows, like music. Everyone is crying about the "poor little sheep" when they don't really comprehend how evil and despicable sheep are. Sheep are responsible for most of the wars that have occurred over the past 6000 years. Sheep are very intelligent creatures that use their cute little eyes to throw off humans from the plans they have to take over the world. Stalin had sheep. He talked to them constantly and some say it was the idea of the sheep to send all of those "dissidents" to Siberia. Hitler had sheep as a kid. You can read in his book Mein Kampf that the sheep would speak "silently" to him and tell him how horrible the Jews are as a race. That's the real reason behind the Holocaust. Ghengis Khan had thousands of sheep. Need I remind you how many people were brutally murdered at his hands?
No I say, the sheep deserve what they get for their part in the grand conspiracy. The Illuminati and Skull and Bones both have sheep or wool in their "secret" symbols. Don't let the docent eyes of the sheep fool you, they're agents of Satan.
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