Oz Students Stick Up for Sheep

When students at the Oz School in Santa Fe, New Mexico, found out that farmers in Australia mutilate sheep and ship them to the Middle East to be slaughtered, they rolled up the sleeves of their cotton sweaters and got to work showing people in their community that merino wool means terror for millions of gentle sheep.

Twelve students, ranging from 5 to 11 years old, in Ms. Karen Turner's K-6 class grabbed pencils, paper, and handfuls of art supplies and wrote a stack of letters to Australian Prime Minister John Howard, asking him to help end the abuse of sheep in the wool industry. They also created posters depicting the horrors that sheep raised for wool in Australia are forced to endure, which, along with copies of their letters, will go on display at a local grocery store.

The students join a growing community of people—and companies—throughout the world who are boycotting Australian wool after learning that for millions of sheep, life down under is far from idyllic. In Australia, farmers restrain lambs under metal bars and use gardening shears to cut away chunks of their flesh—without any painkillers! This is called "mulesing," and farmers say it's done to create a smooth, maggot-resistant scar, even though humane methods of maggot prevention exist that don't involve flaying live sheep. When their wool is no longer needed, millions of sheep are crammed onto crowded, disease-ridden ships and sent to the Middle East, where their throats are slit while they are fully conscious.

You Can Help!
Join kind people everywhere—and companies like Abercrombie & Fitch, New Look, and George—by not wearing wool from Australia. Order a free "Shopping Guide to Compassionate Clothing."

Educate your classmates and teachers, too, by using school projects to explain the sheep's side of the story. And load them up with all of the details so they know exactly what happens to sheep just so that sweaters, scarves, hats, and other clothes can be made.

But don't stop there! Create a display for your local library to help educate your community, encouraging them to purchase alternatives to wool. Be sure to contact the library and ask for permission to put your display up because they may have some rules for you to follow, like what size your display should be.

Write a letter to the editor of your local paper to let readers know why they should never buy wool. Explain mulesing and all of the other dirty little secrets of the wool industry in your letter. To send your letter to the editor, search for the Web site of your local newspaper, look for the "contact us" section, and follow the instructions. It couldn't be easier! Oh, and while you're at it, fire off a letter to the editor of your school newspaper, too—that way the whole school will know why wool is bad news for sheep.