Shocking evidence of sheep being punched, stomped on and thrown inside Australian shearing sheds has been met with condemnation by the wool industry. But footage of wounded sheep being roughly sewn up without pain relief has exposed something even more disturbing: a cruel standard practice that MUST be stopped.
The investigation conducted by PETA in 19 shearing sheds across the country revealed some shocking abuses including sheep being kicked, stomped on, punched, struck with shears and thrown. Footage shows one animal being beaten over the head with a hammer.
Evidence of this overt abuse is now in the hands of authorities and the industry itself has joined calls for tough action.
But perhaps more damning were the images of distressed sheep with gaping cuts having their wounds roughly sewn up ... without any pain relief. Australians will be appalled to learn that this equally abusive practice is considered acceptable by industry standards.
Read enough? Please send an urgent, polite message to the Australian wool industry urging them to make pain relief mandatory in all Australian shearing sheds.
Continue reading »
Not just a bad haircut
Cuts and flesh wounds to sheep are common during shearing, with fearful and stressed animals often roughly handled by workers whose pay is determined by the speed at which they work. Skill levels among shearers vary dramatically as there is no requirement for them to undergo formal training and accreditation. Neither is there a requirement for badly cut sheep to be administered pain relief or even antiseptic.
It's little wonder sheep generally don't like the shearing shed.
The stitching of open wounds is just one of a number of invasive and painful surgical procedures that sheep can endure, with mulesing, castration and tail docking routinely carried out without the provision of any pain relief — an act that would be considered a cruelty offence if committed on a dog or cat.
Simple, cheap pain relief
It would cost less than 50 cents per sheep treated to have the readily available and easily administered Tri-solfen anaesthetic spray on hand in Australian shearing sheds. Tri-solfen is already commonly used on lambs to ease the pain of mulesing and also assists in the healing process.
The Australian Animal Welfare Standards & Guidelines for Sheep were reviewed — and approved — in 2016 still do not require pain relief be used for painful procedures..
Take this opportunity to impress upon wool producers that suturing live animals is not only cruel, but it's a bad look for the industry.
TAKE ACTION now! Urge the Australian wool industry to:
- make pain relief mandatory in all Australian shearing sheds; and
- introduce a compulsory training and accreditation scheme for shearers and other contractors carrying out painful surgical procedures (such as mulesing).
E-mail updates
SMS alerts
