Timberland Will Not Buy Cruelly Obtained Australian Wool

After reviewing video footage showing the stunningly cruel treatment of sheep at the hands of the Australian wool industry, United States outdoor clothing giant Timberland has told PETA that it “will not knowingly sell products which contain Australian merino wool until the practice of mulesing and live exports stop.” Timberland is a $152 million company with 200 retail locations around the world. PETA is celebrating Timberland’s pledge to take a stand against cruelty to animals and boycott Australian merino wool. Millions of abused Australian sheep would be celebrating, too, if they knew there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Mulesing is a painful mutilation in which Australian farmers use gardening shears to slice chunks of skin and flesh from lambs’ backsides—without any painkillers—in a crude attempt to reduce maggot infestation, even though humane control methods exist. Every year, millions of Australian sheep are shipped to the Middle East in open-decked ships through all weather extremes, mired in their own waste, for journeys that take weeks. Sick and injured sheep are thrown overboard to the sharks or ground up alive in mincing machines. When the survivors reach the Middle East, their throats are slit while they are still conscious.

Timberland joins a growing list of prestigious retailers and top fashion designers—including Abercrombie & Fitch—that have joined the international boycott of Australian wool. Manufacturing giant SmartWool recently announced a deal to buy merino wool exclusively from New Zealand farmers who pledge to end mulesing by the end of 2005. Top designers in India—the world’s third-largest importer of Australian wool—have also pledged not to use the cruelly obtained product.

Join Timberland in boycotting cruelty to animals by refusing to buy garments made from Australian merino wool. Order a free “Shopping Guide to Compassionate Clothing” to learn how you can help animals when you shop for clothing.

Find out how you can help save sheep by telling your community about the cruelty of Australian wool.

Watch PETA’s video “Australia’s Secret Shame” to see for yourself what happens to sheep down under.