As Australia braces for the 2024–25 bushfire season, the vivid memories of past disasters, like the 2019–20 Black Summer, remain etched in the hearts of wildlife lovers and carers. The effects of bushfires on wildlife are devastating, leaving countless animals injured, displaced, or dead, and their habitats in ruins. ...
Wool is a popular fibre used in adventure clothing, but it has animal welfare issues to watch out for. If you’re looking to update your ski wardrobe, we’ve got you covered with the latest edition of our Better Wool Guide.
Live lamb cutting (AKA mulesing) is one of the most painful mutilations inflicted on Australian farmed animals. The procedure is endured every year by over 10 million Australian Merino lambs bred for wool – and Australia is the only country practicing it. Consumers and brands are shunning live lamb cutting, with momentum building in favour of improved conditions for sheep.
Shoes, jumpers and even our socks can all contain wool sourced from sheep that were live cut, but we can choose to avoid buying wool that’s associated with exploitation and cruelty. It’s easy with our Better Wool Guide, taking the guesswork out of your shop and helping you identify which retailers and brands are committed to better wool.
Ski season has arrived, so as you pack your bags for Thredbo, Perisher and Mount Hotham, we wanted to share our top ski brands that support better wool and are featured in our Guide. The brands below have either already phased out live lamb cut wool completely, they are moving to phase it out using robust certification schemes, or they are avoiding Australian merino wool altogether.
Ski clothing brands supporting better wool:
Helly Henson
Icebreaker
Jack Wolfskin
Kathmandu
Macpac
Moncler
The North Face
O’Neill
Ortovox
Patagonia
Superdry
Alternatively, if one of your 2024 resolutions is to buy less clothes or buy less new, you can find great second-hand clothes at your local op shop.
More about live lamb cutting:
This out-dated practice is used to protect lambs from flystrike, undoubtedly a terrible condition which can be fatal. Live lamb cutting uses shears to slice off strips of wrinkled skin around the lamb’s rear end, creating smooth scar tissue that’s unattractive to flies, thereby preventing flystrike.
However, preventing one painful problem with a painful practice is not the answer. Through better breeding, farmers can produce plain-bodied sheep without the wrinkles. These sheep are naturally resistant to flystrike and produce quality wool.
HSI has been hard at work campaigning to have live lamb cutting phased out and replaced with better breeding. You can help too and if you choose to buy something woolly, then use our Better Wool Guide which lists brands who have already made a move to source more wool from sheep that haven’t been live lamb cut.
Thank you for supporting better wool and an end to live lamb cutting, we wish ewe a woolly-good time on the slopes!
- View the complete Better Wool Guide here.
- If you want to help more, you can take action by calling for legislation to phase out live lamb cutting (mulesing) by 2030 and mandate pain relief for painful husbandry procedures on lambs immediately. Take action here.
- Have a favourite brand you want to see in our Better Wool Guide? Send us an email to action@hsi.org.au and we will be in touch!
