Vegans: Why are so many of you opposed to wool?!
Sheep have been bred to grow wool endlessly, so if we don't sheer them, their hair gets overgrown and they can get sick from mud and dirt getting stuck in their wool!. Some sheep nearly died from neglect recently for this very reason!. Now, I can see how you might not be okay with animal husbandry in general, but we would have to literally kill all domesticated sheep just to avoid being cruel if we didn't want to sheer them!. So why is wool bad!?Www@FoodAQ@Com
Answers:
At the most basic level, the use of animal materials is exploitation and speciesism!. The wool doesn't belong to humans, it belongs to the sheep - it's part of them!. Therefor, I don't take what's not mine!.
At a practical level, by not purchasing wool products, I withdraw support from the industry!. Theoretically, less people supporting the industry means less demand for wool products, and therefor fewer sheep are enslaved and exploited for what is righfully theirs in the first place!.
Wool is seldom humanely acquired!. Sheep are bred to have excess skin folds, therefor producing more wool per unit!. The skin folds are NOT cleaned or cared for, and the very nature of the skin makes it succeptible to skin breakdown, contamination by parasites, and infection!. At shearing time, sheep are restrained on their backs and shaved mechanically, which more often than not leads to cuts and subsequent infection!.
From a vegan perspective, using animal products (whether they are cruelly obtained or not) perpetuates the attitude that animals and their "product" are ours to use and abuse!. Vegans oppose that attitude!. Vegans (generally speaking) see animals as creatures who exist, not as slaves to humans, but for their own purposes, and so we make efforts not to impede them in fulfilling their own natural instincts and desires!.
I hope I've explained the perspective in a way that makes sense!. :-)
Mook: Really good point, and I think you're right - we DO have a duty to them!. In an ideal world, these existing animals (now that they're domesticated and dependent on humans for survival) would be freed from the slavery of the industry and offered a sanctuary to live out the remainder of their lives peacefully and with support!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
At a practical level, by not purchasing wool products, I withdraw support from the industry!. Theoretically, less people supporting the industry means less demand for wool products, and therefor fewer sheep are enslaved and exploited for what is righfully theirs in the first place!.
Wool is seldom humanely acquired!. Sheep are bred to have excess skin folds, therefor producing more wool per unit!. The skin folds are NOT cleaned or cared for, and the very nature of the skin makes it succeptible to skin breakdown, contamination by parasites, and infection!. At shearing time, sheep are restrained on their backs and shaved mechanically, which more often than not leads to cuts and subsequent infection!.
From a vegan perspective, using animal products (whether they are cruelly obtained or not) perpetuates the attitude that animals and their "product" are ours to use and abuse!. Vegans oppose that attitude!. Vegans (generally speaking) see animals as creatures who exist, not as slaves to humans, but for their own purposes, and so we make efforts not to impede them in fulfilling their own natural instincts and desires!.
I hope I've explained the perspective in a way that makes sense!. :-)
Mook: Really good point, and I think you're right - we DO have a duty to them!. In an ideal world, these existing animals (now that they're domesticated and dependent on humans for survival) would be freed from the slavery of the industry and offered a sanctuary to live out the remainder of their lives peacefully and with support!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
I read one time about how they sheer the sheep!. Mostly it is ok, but there is a section on their underside that they have to sheer and cut away or else cause some knotting and an infection!. Many farmers are not too nice about it and often cut right in to the skin!. There is also a practice in some places to cut mostly when the weather is cold, so that the sheep get very cold and feel the need to stay all together, making it cheaper to herd them!. There really are alternatives that are just as good!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
If I knew the wool came from sheep that were raised and handled humanely, I'd get sweaters for everyone!
I'm not saying this is the absolute rule but in a lot of cases, wool, honey, milk and other animal products are talked about in very!.!.!.emotionally charged terms!. Naturally you'd expect people to have an emotional reaction!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
I'm not saying this is the absolute rule but in a lot of cases, wool, honey, milk and other animal products are talked about in very!.!.!.emotionally charged terms!. Naturally you'd expect people to have an emotional reaction!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
They kill the animal!. They torture the animal!. The animal is suffering!. Sheep don't have fur so that humans can take it away!. Even if the sheep are having the times of their lives, it is still animal exploitation!Www@FoodAQ@Com
Fiscally, on a dietary level I am 100% Vegan!. In what I actually consume I am 99!.999% vegan!. When I eat vegetarian and not vegan, it is usually by mistake!.
But I'm not a legalist about it!. If I am in need of a supplement and or medicine I will compromise if the pill has gelatin but opt for the veggie caps when available!. At times I have ordered something and mistakenly got cheese in the dished!. This is after I have started to eat it that I have realized such things!. Instead of throwing it in the trash (which I think is it immoral to do so mocking any suffering this may have caused in its production) I compromise by going ahead & eating it!.
There is such a things as a spirit of veganism!. Some would snub such an idea but I'm confident in myself & the lifestyle I have chosen proudly labeling myself to anyone that I am vegan!. Here me roar, *mew* ; )
As for clothing I don't buy leather or other products made from the killing of animals!. I did however buy a wool hat last winter that was made fair trade in Nepal!. I felt I was helping people out that needed it and it is not necessarily a bad thing to sheer a sheep!. Every once in a while they need it to get ride of the excess, burrs, etc!.
Now yes I'm sure some practices are better than others!. I'm not totally thumbs up on wool!. Maybe Australian wool should be boycotted!. Maybe some Sheep are only used for their wool and are mindfully sheered!. Maybe someone could develop no kill humanely treat vegetarian animal products!. But as animal products go I think wool may be potentially one of the least harmfully obtained products & may even have some mutual benefits!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
But I'm not a legalist about it!. If I am in need of a supplement and or medicine I will compromise if the pill has gelatin but opt for the veggie caps when available!. At times I have ordered something and mistakenly got cheese in the dished!. This is after I have started to eat it that I have realized such things!. Instead of throwing it in the trash (which I think is it immoral to do so mocking any suffering this may have caused in its production) I compromise by going ahead & eating it!.
There is such a things as a spirit of veganism!. Some would snub such an idea but I'm confident in myself & the lifestyle I have chosen proudly labeling myself to anyone that I am vegan!. Here me roar, *mew* ; )
As for clothing I don't buy leather or other products made from the killing of animals!. I did however buy a wool hat last winter that was made fair trade in Nepal!. I felt I was helping people out that needed it and it is not necessarily a bad thing to sheer a sheep!. Every once in a while they need it to get ride of the excess, burrs, etc!.
Now yes I'm sure some practices are better than others!. I'm not totally thumbs up on wool!. Maybe Australian wool should be boycotted!. Maybe some Sheep are only used for their wool and are mindfully sheered!. Maybe someone could develop no kill humanely treat vegetarian animal products!. But as animal products go I think wool may be potentially one of the least harmfully obtained products & may even have some mutual benefits!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
We’d like to believe that wool harvesting causes little or no discomfort, that the wool is shaved from the outside of the sheep, much like a haircut, leaving the animal cool and comfortable for the summer!. After all, wild sheep have the ability to shed their own wool during the warm months and retain it during the winter!. But shearing is nothing like shedding!. The sheep are thrown on their backs and restrained while a razor is run over their bodies!.
Whether sheared manually or mechanically, cuts in the skin are very common!. Careless shearing can injure teats, pizzles, other appendages, and ligaments!. Sheep are held in restraints with tight clamps on their faces when they’re mechanically sheared!. Naked to the world, sheep are put back out to pasture where they can suffer severe sunburn or freeze as the heat is drawn from their bodies!.
Death can occur when the shearer is rough and twists the sheep into an organ-damaging position, when the health of the sheep is already poor, or when being stripped of wool is a shock to the sheep’s system!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Whether sheared manually or mechanically, cuts in the skin are very common!. Careless shearing can injure teats, pizzles, other appendages, and ligaments!. Sheep are held in restraints with tight clamps on their faces when they’re mechanically sheared!. Naked to the world, sheep are put back out to pasture where they can suffer severe sunburn or freeze as the heat is drawn from their bodies!.
Death can occur when the shearer is rough and twists the sheep into an organ-damaging position, when the health of the sheep is already poor, or when being stripped of wool is a shock to the sheep’s system!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
See this site:
http://savethesheep!.com/animals!.asp
In Australia, lambs are forced to endure a gruesome procedure called mulesing!. The farmers cut huge chunks of skin and flesh from the animals’ backsides, without any painkillers!. Millions of the discarded sheep are shipped to the Middle East on crowded, multilevel ships!. The animals end up in countries where animal welfare standards are non-existent!. In unregulated slaughterhouses, their throats are slit while they are still conscious!.
EDIT:
Buying Australian wool directly supports animal slaughter, because the sheep who are raised for wool are inevitably sent to slaughter when they are no longer wanted by farmers!. Even without the slaughter, the practice of mulesing is pretty brutal!. See for yourself: http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=KsVpV0qsE!.!.!.
There are so many humane, comfortable alternatives to wool that I don't have any need to buy wool!. If I could verify that a local farm had sheep who weren't mistreated or slaughtered, I'd be ok with other people buying it!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
http://savethesheep!.com/animals!.asp
In Australia, lambs are forced to endure a gruesome procedure called mulesing!. The farmers cut huge chunks of skin and flesh from the animals’ backsides, without any painkillers!. Millions of the discarded sheep are shipped to the Middle East on crowded, multilevel ships!. The animals end up in countries where animal welfare standards are non-existent!. In unregulated slaughterhouses, their throats are slit while they are still conscious!.
EDIT:
Buying Australian wool directly supports animal slaughter, because the sheep who are raised for wool are inevitably sent to slaughter when they are no longer wanted by farmers!. Even without the slaughter, the practice of mulesing is pretty brutal!. See for yourself: http://www!.youtube!.com/watch!?v=KsVpV0qsE!.!.!.
There are so many humane, comfortable alternatives to wool that I don't have any need to buy wool!. If I could verify that a local farm had sheep who weren't mistreated or slaughtered, I'd be ok with other people buying it!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
I am vegetarian and I knit everything!.!.!.!.and I know some what of sheep!.!.!.If they are not shorn they will get very sick!.!.!.
Saw a picture on line the other day of a sheep that had managed to hide from the farmer and had not been shorn in 6 yrs!. The poor thing was so round I wasn't sure where the feet where touching the ground!.And the weight of all that wool from 6yr growth must have been very difficult form the sheep to manage!.
A good wool is a natural pure material!.!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Saw a picture on line the other day of a sheep that had managed to hide from the farmer and had not been shorn in 6 yrs!. The poor thing was so round I wasn't sure where the feet where touching the ground!.And the weight of all that wool from 6yr growth must have been very difficult form the sheep to manage!.
A good wool is a natural pure material!.!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
For one, wool sheep, like dairy cows and egg laying hens, usually don't just live out their lives in a pasture until they die a natural death!. Once they no longer produce enough wool, they're slaughtered!. There aren't any animal production industries that don't involve premature death!. also, to protect sheep, ranchers kill high numbers of natural predators like coyotes and wolves, so there's some more death!.
And if the world suddenly decided to stop raising sheep for wool, it's not like we would just abandon or kill the sheep that are around now!. Ok, let them live out their lives and shear them when needed, but just stop letting them reproduce and they'll be gone in a few years!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
And if the world suddenly decided to stop raising sheep for wool, it's not like we would just abandon or kill the sheep that are around now!. Ok, let them live out their lives and shear them when needed, but just stop letting them reproduce and they'll be gone in a few years!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
its just cuz it comes from an animal so they think its wrong i mean people have been killing animals for food since the beginning of time its what we had to do to live before all this crazy organic stuff they just want to feel like they r making a difference in the world because it is easy and that way they dont have to worry about doing anything elseWww@FoodAQ@Com