Is Wool Ethical?

The weather is beginning to get a bit chilly here in the Southern Hemisphere, so we’re wrapping up warm and getting ready for the winter months.

We all love to snuggle up in these colder months with warm blankets, woolly jumpers, scarves and hats. And so out we purchase woollen garments to take off the chill. We may not stop there. We could get a woollen underlay for the top of the mattress or sheepskin-lined slippers. But do we think about how the raw product is acquired?

I’m sure you all know where the wool comes from, especially here in New Zealand, but do you fully understand what happens to the animals for us to have our winter woollies?

Let’s start at the beginning with the lambs. Sheep generally only have one lamb. However, it is now common to see twins and triplets, which is more a result of genetic selection, intensive feeding or hormones and other drugs.

Two procedures are done on lambs, usually before six weeks of age. These are docking (removing the tails) and castration (removing the testicles), both performed without anaesthetic and usually without painkillers. Docking methods vary from rubber rings to hot irons, subjecting the lamb to much pain.