I found the UGG info if your interested (no sheep are killed to make UGGS!!!)?!
I found the UGG info if your interested (no sheep are killed to make UGGS!!!)?
Do you have to really kill the poor sheep just to make a pair of sheepskin boots?
The answer is NO. Not one sheep has to be slaughted to obtain their hide and fleece. The sheepskins are shawn of the sheep back and the sheep regrow their fleece just like humans do hair. It's completely painless for the sheep. I've been told by a few old school ugg manufaturers that the sheep actually like the experience of feeling free and would prefer to be shawn rather than have to carry a thick thick woolen coat around with them in the hot Summer.
Answers:
That's where wool comes from. Not sheepSKIN.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sheepskin_%...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wool...
Moral: do not trust 'articles' on the web that are written anything like that. 'Shawn'?!? (S/he means 'shorn.')
Are you aware that sheep hide is their SKIN. How do you not kill a sheep but obtain their skin??? To obtain ONLY the fleece, it's painless, but the hide is another story.......
To get the wool is not painless eaither! Read this.
In the U.S., most wool comes from either domestically raised sheep or sheep raised in Australia and New Zealand (American Sheep Industry Association). Sheep raised for wool are bred to have lambs who are sent to slaughter; sheep whose wool / lamb production has started to decline are also slaughtered (SFAP, 1998). Over 500,000 sheep and lambs in the U.S. died from predation in 1994 (USDA). In turn, sheep ranchers kill predators such as coyotes. Sheep and lambs are subjected to harsh weather conditions, with over 100,000 dying from weather-related causes in 1994 (USDA). The Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals for Australia & New Zealand (1995) allows for tail docking, castration, and surgical removal of skin folds without anesthesia. Shearing sheep causes bruising and cuts (Agriculture Western Australia, 1997).
Also
Sheep shearers are paid by piece rate, meaning that speed not precision guides the process. Consequently, most sheep are roughly handled, lacerated, and injured during the process. The production of wool, as with all industries that consider animals as mere commodities, is rife with cruelty and abuse. In addition, the purchase of wool supports the continual slaughter of millions of lambs and sheep each year.
I hope that helps.
Are you trying to say that the suedeskin used in the boots grows on trees?
Not all sheep survive being shorn. The goal of the workers is to do it quickly and that leads to injuries and infections that many sheep do not survive.
You make it sound like it is a gentle experience carried out with the utmost care. If it were, it wouldn't be a problem. The truth is that it is often a brutal experience for the sheep.