[quote PBJelly]Just wanted to say something in here on the wool issue @stealthbanana @LadyWithLapdog @eaglejulesk
I agree it’s quite a complicated area, it’s not just about the shearing.
There are some sheep that are kept in good conditions, and there are some that aren’t. As consumers we can try and buy wool that is more ethical and look for how it’s produced. However this can be difficult to ascertain and there’s no guarantee - there have been cases of horrible treatment of sheep even in ‘ethical’ farms (Patagonia reported this issue in one of their ‘ethical’ farms).
Mulesing is a cruel practice, but a lot of farms are moving away from this and you can buy mulesing free wool. So another thing consumers can do.
It’s difficult to separate wool production from meat production - many farms will have income from selling lambs for meat as well as from wool, so if you don’t agree with eating meat, you may not want to buy wool. The two industries are closely intertwined. Sheep reach an age where they’re not as ‘useful’ and this is another issue - when they’re not able to produce as much milk/continue producing lambs etc they will be sold for meat or to continue to produce wool - but often on less ethical a farms.
It’s a bit like leather - some people who don’t eat meat wear leather, as they think leather is just a by-product. In fact, in many farms the income is quite evenly split for both products - leather and meat. That meat wouldn’t be profitable without the leather also being sold - you could say meat is a by-product of leather. So buying leather supports the meat industry and vice versa.
IMO as a vegan, I don’t buy new wool. I do buy second hand wool and recycled wool. I can however see that theoretically wool could be OK (nice farm, high welfare standards, sheep not killed at the end of their useful lifespans, lambs not killed for meat) but this doesn’t exist in reality - it’s an industry. Whenever you make an industry out of animals, they’re exploited. Some industries are worse than others, but essentially once animals are being used to make money it’s money that will be the primary consideration rather than animal welfare. The only ethical wool production I know of is Izzy Lane - a no-kill sheep farm with sheep rescued from other farms.
shop.izzylane.com/
I thought this was a good piece on it and offers a more nuanced analysis on things - it’s a vegan blog and they talk about wool being a difficult area theminimalistvegan.com/is-wool-vegan/[/quote]
@snowliving I posted this yesterday in response to someone else discussing the same question. The blog covers the ins and outs of it in more detail - it’s about more than shearing.