Activists around the world have been campaigning against the Australian wool industry for the past year to end two cruel practices, mulesing mutilations of lambs and live sheep exports. After hundreds of international demonstrations and other actions, PETA and Australian wool farmers represented by the Australian Wool Growers Association (AWGA) have come to an agreement that would phase out mulesing through a series of quantifiable steps, starting now and securing a total end to the practice by the end of 2009, and require that live export standards meet Australian domestic animal protection laws, with the provision that if, by September 2006, it is shown that the industry can’t meet these standards, sheep farmers who have signed on to this agreement will, within the next five years, stop shipping sheep overseas.

Read the agreement signed by PETA and AWGA.

As part of this step forward, PETA has called for a 45-day moratorium on the Australian wool and Benetton campaigns to allow AWGA representatives to garner support for this agreement from other wool industry bodies.

Talks between PETA and the AWGA began in New York in June with an in-person meeting between negotiators for the groups. The agreement represents a compromise for all involved in order to allow progress to take place toward the goal of advancing the welfare of sheep. Both sides agree that it is critical that the entire wool industry and government join these productive negotiations, and PETA has therefore suspended its campaign for 45 days beginning August 8, 2005, and will extend it another 45 days if other wool industry groups that have so far refused to talk to PETA decide to consider the plan.

If ratified by all, PETA has agreed that it would not campaign against Australian wool for 10 years from the date that the agreement is ratified by the industry. For its part, the AWGA would start an audited system to reduce live exports and mulesing of sheep, push forward a pre-mulesing analgesic, see that an already-approved post-mulesing painkiller is used, and support having representatives from the animal welfare community examine live-export conditions. Third parties would audit the progress of the plan.

A list of prestigious retailers and fashion designers—including Abercrombie & Fitch, Timberland, American Eagle, and Limited Brands in the U.S. and New Look and George in the U.K.—have joined the retailer-led movement to reform the Australian wool industry. These companies will now have a source of wool from Australian sheep who have not been mulesed or subjected to live overseas shipping.

Spread the word! Use this link to tell your friends about this great step forward for animals.