Save the Sheep! > Chrissie Hynde Protests Sheep Abuse Down Under!

Rock Icon Chrissie Hynde Protests Sheep Abuse Down Under

International rock icon Chrissie Hynde, lead singer of The Pretenders, is fed up with the abusive treatment of sheep in Australia’s wool and live export industries, and along with kind people everywhere, she is doing something about it! Accompanied by a team of PETA activists and with the famous Sydney Opera House in the background, Chrissie led a demonstration to protest the practices of mutilating sheep without painkillers and shipping them thousands of miles to be slaughtered.

Chrissie wore a portable “body screen” TV to debut new undercover footage that shows Australian wool farmers “mulesing” sheep—a barbaric procedure in which farmers restrain sheep and carve chunks of skin from their backsides without painkillers. Mulesing is a standard industry practice in Australia, and almost all of Australia’s 130 million sheep suffer through the procedure each year.

Chrissie Hynde The video also shows that when they are no longer considered viable to the wool industry, Australian sheep are sent by sea to be slaughtered for their flesh in the Middle East. Aboard overcrowded, disease-ridden ships that can hold up to 75,000 animals, sheep are forced to endure scorching heat, stress, the constant stinging spray of salt water, dehydration, starvation, and the danger of being trampled or smothered by other sheep. When they reach their final destination, sheep are tied by their legs, dragged onto trucks, and eventually slaughtered while fully conscious—something that would be illegal in Australia!

Click here to view the video.

Chrissie’s message—that animals aren’t ours to abuse or wear—was sent straight to the head of the Australian government, Prime Minister John Howard. Sent along with a copy of the video that she debuted in Sydney, Chrissie’s letter asked Prime Minister Howard to put an end to mulesing and the hideous live export trade. Click here to view Chrissie’s letter to Prime Minister John Howard.

You Can Help

Don’t buy or wear products that are made from wool—especially wool from Australia. Click here for a free copy of “PETA’s Shopping Guide to Compassionate Clothing” and for more information on the cruelty of wool production and live exports.

Write to Australian government officials, asking that they put an immediate end to mulesing and to the live export of animals from Australia:

The Honorable Kevin Rudd

Click here to e-mail Prime Minister Rudd.

The Honorable Tony Burke, M.P.

Tony.Burke.MP@aph.gov.au