[Closed] Singletrack Merino Wool survey - Animal cruelty??

No amount of fluff can hide the fact that anyone who buys wool supports a cruel and bloody industry

Uhuh. /loses interest in website.

stick to helly hansons then- no animals harmed?

Is that actually a serious site? Honestly I cannot decide whether it is or not.

mulesing isn't practised in New Zealand I'm told...

Quite a lot of merino producers don't do mulesing if that's the objection. Certainly Howies' suppliers don't/didn't when I last cared.

If the objection is to the enslavement and forcible shaving of sheep, then they can boil their heads. It's a sheep, that's what it's for. It wouldn't [u]be[/u] at all in any other circumstances.

Having helped shear sheep in the Lakes, I'm quite fond of them. Am I right in thinking mulesing is the 'cheapist' treatment to the problem?

who cares it tastes good! (tucks into his stinky old baabaa top)

Jesus, I don't think I needed to know what flystrike and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myiasis were.

The picture on the wikipedia link sums up the problem quite nicely 😐

i've noticed that a far fewer sheep have their tails docked nowadays than used to be. is there a reason for this?

MrNutt - I love eating meat, but object to unnecessary cruelty.

The 'i'd like to wear merino, but object on animal welfare grounds' vote button, got me wondering what the issue is.

I've seen the Sheep Ships come into Bahrain (no puns intended)and thought it was an utter disgrace. Most of the sheep from the lower decks are blind from the ammonia from all the urine built up on passage from Australia. Then at the end of the journey the Arabs slit there throats without stunning then. To me thats not an acceptable way of obtaining meat.

i've noticed that a far fewer sheep have their tails docked nowadays than used to be. is there a reason for this?

Paddy, I expect you could find that out easily if you Google for "docking". 🙂

just out of interest, what are the alternatives to wool that aren't man-made and at least vaguely environmentally friendly?

Silk. Hemp. Possum fur 🙂

BWD I read that as "bottom fur" (of which I have plenty), but I cannot think either the harvesting or the resulting garments would be aesthetic 🙁

Barnes No!! The thought undergarments made from your bottom fur!

Hemp's more an alternative to cotton and linen.
Possum's frigging awful- it's a con as far as I'm concerned, and it leaves bloody horrible wee hairs everywhere.
Neither are performance materials.

silk undies for biking - not sure what the wife would think of me borrowing hers for a try out...

I do have a bamboo shirt, but I expect it's only a matter of time before PETA tell me I'm a bad man for wearing panda food.

bamboo base layers ftw.

Icebreaker merino is not from mulesed sheep btw. From their web site:

'All our merino fibre is sourced from sheep that have not been mulesed, this includes the traditional surgical method and the clips method. Mulesing removes strips of skin around the tail to prevent flystrike.'

Also:

'The farmers who supply our merino are also required to meet minimum standards of care of sheep dogs.'

There's a fair amount of recycled polyester around as well, generally made from plastic bottles though 'recyclable' is becoming a bit of a buzz word in the outdoors industry though it's still early days.

You can discount my vote on the survey, clicked on the wrong one.

Apparently blow fly isn't a problem in New Zealand so, anything from there shouldn't involve museling. I've just emailed Swobo as I've a few of their merino, and they've replied saying their merino doesn't invlove that practice. Phew!

[i]Joaquin Phoenix Stands Up For Sheep[/i]

😆

blow fly or museling tough call.
Shame nobody in the UK can produce wool eh, thin of the f'in miles it travels first. They also are farming sheep in deserts where the water could be put to much better use.

Buy British (I know its not quire as fine but its still good)