PETA Supporters Arrive at boohoo HQ With a Message: ‘Ban Cruel Wool’
Following boohoo group’s decision to withdraw its ban on wool, PETA supporters gathered outside the company’s Dale Street head office in Manchester, wearing sheep masks and holding bold signs.
The protesters called on the online fashion retailer – whose brands include boohoo, boohooMAN, PrettyLittleThing, MissPap and Nasty Gal – to stand by its original decision to ban wool. Despite knowing that wool industry workers abuse sheep and that wool is one of the most environmentally damaging materials, the retailer made the unethical decision not to go ahead with the ban.
What’s Cruel About the Wool Industry?
Since 2014, PETA has released 11 exposés of 99 wool industry facilities on four continents, including in the UK, and systemic abuse was found in every one.
In 2018, PETA Asia released the first-ever footage showing that on farms across England and Scotland, shearers punched sheep in the face, stamped and stood on their heads and necks, and beat them with electric clippers. Several animals died of apparent stress during and following shearing, and one farmer was recorded dragging two ailing sheep into a shed, where he left them to suffer and die.
Speciesism, a supremacist worldview, is the source of the belief that sheep’s wool belongs to humans. But it doesn’t – it belongs to the animals who were born with it. PETA supporters and other kind shoppers agree that no jumper or scarf is worth kicking, punching, and killing gentle sheep on the shearing floor.
Environmental Damage
Wool production wreaks havoc on the living planet. According to the recent “Pulse of the Fashion Industry” report, wool is one of the five most environmentally damaging materials.
Sheep farming, just like cattle farming, generates huge quantities of the greenhouse-gas emissions that cause climate change. Large-scale grazing has led to vegetation change and soil erosion, and faeces and sheep “dip” (a toxic chemical used to rid sheep of parasites) pollute local waterways.
It’s time boohoo group proved that it’s a real leader in global retail by standing by its compassionate initial decision to ban wool.
What You Can Do
When shopping online or in store, always check products’ material composition carefully to avoid adding items containing wool – or any other animal-derived materials – to your shopping basket. There are many animal- and Earth-friendly vegan options on the market.
And please call on boohoo to ban wool immediately:
