A Gift for the Royal Baby: A Wool-Free Cardigan From PETA U.K.

Newest Royal Will Be Able to Stay Warm in Vegan, Animal-Friendly Style

For Immediate Release:
May 7, 2019

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

As the Duke and Duchess of Sussex celebrate the birth of their first child, PETA U.K. will send the newborn a warm and cozy welcome gift: a wool-free cardigan made of cotton and bamboo by Bramble Crafts. A photo of the gift is available here.

“A wool-free cardigan is as soft and warm for a baby as it is kind to sheep,” says PETA U.K. Director Elisa Allen. “We hope PETA U.K.’s gift to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will inspire parents around the world to dress their tots in compassionate, animal-friendly style.”

Since 2014, PETA and its international affiliates have released 11 exposés of 99 sheep-shearing facilities on four continents, including in the U.K., and every time, systemic abuse was revealed. The most recent exposés—recorded on sheep farms in Australia, the world’s largest exporter of wool—show that workers beat gentle sheep, mutilated them, and slit their throats when they were fully conscious. One petrified sheep kicked for nearly a minute after the manager began cutting her throat, and he said that some kick for a “bloody couple of minutes.”

The wool industry also wreaks havoc on the environment: Manure generated by farmed animals has significantly contributed to the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases, large-scale grazing has led to soil erosion and changes in vegetation, and fecal matter and toxic sheep “dip” (used to rid sheep of parasites) are polluting local waterways.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, which is the human-supremacist view that other animals are nothing more than commodities. PETA U.K. is currently calling on U.K. fashion giant boohoo to commit to its previous promise to ban wool from all its brands and ranges.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.