‘Not Just a Haircut’: Was Your Sweater Someone?

The sheep was already bleeding, her whole body shaking with terror, before the man stomped on her throat. Then she couldn’t breathe. This isn’t the first time PETA entities have watched and filmed what really goes on in shearing sheds, and you’ll flee from fleece and walk away from wool when you know: Shearing sheep is anything but a “haircut.”

The sheep’s distress didn’t stop the shearer from forcibly shaving off her fleece so it could be sold as “the world’s leading ethical wool.” Brands such as Allbirds, Fjällräven, Helly Hansen, icebreaker, LVMH’s Loro Piana, and Smartwool use this sham “humane” certification to market wool. You’re likely familiar with humane-washing in the meat, egg, and dairy industries. Clothing brands also use comforting but disingenuous certifications to pull the wool over buyers’ eyes.

PETA entities have previously exposed the wool industry’s horrific cruelty in six countries. Now there’s a seventh: New Zealand. PETA Asia investigators got inside sheep farms and shearing sheds in New Zealand that are certified by ZQ, which assures shoppers that its producers deliver “wool done right” and claims, “You can be confident that the sheep … are humanely treated.” This humane-washing scheme is unmitigated rot.

Gentle Sheep Battered in Shearing Sheds

PETA Asia’s investigators saw shearers at ZQ-certified facilities beating, stomping on, and throwing sheep. Shearers kicked newly sheared sheep hard after some of them balked at entering a scary chute. The rough handling left animals with gaping wounds, which were stitched up without any painkillers. Blood ran down one sheep’s face from an eye injury. But rather than seeking veterinary assistance, the shearer pointed out the wound to a fellow shearer and laughed. Another shearer slammed a sheep’s head against a wooden board three times and yelled, “F**k you, c**t,” before throwing her into a chute. Amphetamine use among shearers is well known – in Australia, some lawmakers have called for mandatory drug testing – and can rile them up into fits of aggression.

‘Where’s My Mother?’

Before being shorn, sheep were forced into severely crowded enclosures and handled abusively. On one farm, a worker told PETA Asia’s investigator that sheep could smother in the crowded conditions. He was right. The investigator found a sheep lying dead, buried under her penmates. Her carcass was sheared, and her fleece was placed with that of the others.

One worker whipped rams with a leather dog collar. He tackled several sheep while laughing, appearing to enjoy his power over these gentle and helpless animals. Farmers hit and jabbed sheep with whatever was handy, including the metal end of a ski pole. Farmers also used dogs, who sometimes attacked the sheep, to control and terrorize them. But even the dogs weren’t spared abuse – a farmer repeatedly jabbed one with a pole.

On one farm, the air was filled with the cries of terrified lambs, who called out continuously for their mothers, from whom they had been traumatically separated.

Wool Stops a Bleating Heart

On one farm, PETA Asia’s investigator saw the same collapsed sheep several times over two days while her condition deteriorated. In the end, without even attempting to stun her, a farmer cut her throat and dumped her body into a rubbish pit. Instead of providing care for sick or struggling sheep, it was “easier” when they died “out of sight, out of mind,” he said. Investigators found more carcasses in paddocks and offal pits. A farmer said he leaves bodies to decompose in the paddock or tosses them into a pit but that he could get “reported for having dead animals around the place.” Inspections are, lucky for him, few and far between.

Death awaits all sheep used by the wool industry. There is no retirement home for them: Sheep who are no longer “productive” are hauled off to slaughter.

Sheep’s Wool Belongs to Them

No matter the farm, no matter the country – when PETA entities have gone into any shearing shed, hideous abuse has been found. As the disturbing eyewitness video footage – gathered in 15 exposés on four continents – proves, suffering is stitched into every wool coat, hat, and sweater.