The Ethics of Wool
You may notice that this website does not yet carry any wool products. That is because I have not yet found a wholesale wool supplier that can guarantee that their yarn comes from sheep who have been well treated "from cradle to grave."
Many people think that wool is a humane product since the sheep are not killed in order that their wool be harvested. But they do not consider what becomes of most sheep at the end of their lives.
Many sheep raised on commercial farms are auctioned off when they pass middle age and their wool production begins to diminish. They are sold to leather producers and buyers of waste meat. Many end up in stockyards as "downed animals."
Recently the Humane Society of the United States publicized the results of an undercover investigation into animal cruelty at the Hallmark Meat Packing Company in Chino, California (see one article at http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212127958.shtml). The documented cruelty in this case involved downed cows. However, sheep and other farm animals often suffer the same fate.
I have spoken to animal activists who maintain that there is no such thing as humane wool. However, I am sure there are small farmers who raise wool and lovingly tend their sheep. I am still looking for sources for humane wool. Anyone with information is welcome to contact me.
Christina said
May 19, 2008 @ 8:56 am
I find that very interesting considering much of the knitting/fiber industry is based so heavily upon wool. I guess we'll all have to rethink our wool obsessions; unless that is, you can find humanity in the wool industry and then we'll all be off the hook. Good luck and thanks for the insight
Maree said
July 19, 2008 @ 12:18 am
Very interesting.... I am a New Zealander & was raised on a sheep & cattle farm & am intrigued by the definition of 'humane'. By it's very nature the animal world is a cruel one - I am not disputing that sheep are sold on for slaughter in one form or another after their wool bearing days are over (which in my experience is after they are of an advanced age), but if these animals weren't slaughtered cleanly & quickly, left to their own devices would quickly die of starvation &/or malnutrition as the ability to feed would cease as sheep naturally loose there teeth after 4-5 years of age, purely because of wear & tear. So I pose the question: What is more humane - Prolong an animals life by artifically keeping it alive or providing a quick end once it's best days are over' "Humanity" after all is something that should apply to "Humans" as the word implies. On a more positive note - I do know of a BioGrow organic certified Merino farmer here who sells there wool to a yarn textile mill here, that yarn has just been released & available for sale if you are interested. Good luck in your endeavours.
Ruth said
July 21, 2008 @ 3:06 pm
Yes, I do agree with you. The key phrase is "a quick end." Large agri-businesses, and even some smaller farms, don't always provide that. I won't provide unsettling details here. If you're interested in finding out what happens to some animals, read the story of the sheep Hilda, who was rescued from a stockyard, survived, and inspired the creation of the advocacy group Farm Sanctuary: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/about/hilda.html. For me, a "clean and quick" slaughter means being killed at home on the farm as expeditiously as possible. This has become rare in the U.S. I don't know what New Zealand's farm animal protection laws are like, but in the U.S. they come up short, as the story of Hilda makes clear. I appreciate your comments, and I don't think we see things so very differently. Also, thank you for the information about BioGrow wool; I will check it out.
Ellen said
October 5, 2008 @ 6:56 pm
Oh my gosh, there are so many thousands of small flock owners in the US who produce wool (including myself), who treat our animals like much loved pets—finding wool yarn humanely produced just should not be an issue. Probably wherever you live in the US all you have to do is drive 50 miles to find 50 farms producing wool on a small scale. Please don't tar the whole final product (wool yarn, fiber) because of large industry practices. In just one very rural county of WV, I personally know 15 shepherds of small flocks. You might just be looking in the wrong direction for your supplies; start asking at farmer's markets.
Ruth said
October 6, 2008 @ 12:08 am
Yes, I do know plenty of small growers. Very few sell wool at wholesale for pricing reasons--they sell direct from their farms. I don't mean to tar the final product in any way, which is why I encourage buying from the small growers (see my May blog "Humane Wool Source" and my links). Until I find a humane source that sells wholesale, however, I won't be marketing wool from this site.
Chris said
March 18, 2010 @ 4:14 am
I know this threat hasn't been alive for a while but I couldn't stop myself from commenting. I agree with your post and when reading the replies something very clear came to mind. (well two) - the commenter’s are not only tied (and their livelihoods) to the wool industry, also their comments are important, but necessary for what they say about whether the wool industry is "ethical" but because to me they demonstrate a clear warping of what is "reality" - take for example Maree statement: "I am a New Zealander & was raised on a sheep & cattle farm & am intrigued by the definition of 'humane'. By it's very nature the animal world is a cruel one.... but if these animals weren't slaughtered cleanly & quickly, left to their own devices would quickly die of starvation &/or malnutrition as the ability to feed would cease as sheep naturally loose there teeth after 4-5 years of age, purely because of wear & tear." Here she is attempting to provide a rational argument for the ethics of commercial breeding of an animal for its coat by presupposing that the creation of a life (for its wool and profit) is somehow a natural processes. It is not natural. These types of arguments are abound and inherently illogical. We should not assume that the creation of a life that is brought into this world, only to fulfill human purposes – mostly monetary - is "natural". Maree’s comment demonstrates a self-legitimising thought process which assumes that commercial breeding of an animal, and whatever hardships it encounters thereafter (at the farm) is due to being "natural hardships" to the point where its slaughter (because it cannot produce wool anymore, or because it cannot care for itself within he confines of the farm) now become the most “humane” solution to an otherwise “natural” and cruel “animal” world. Granted even if sheep were left to graze in natural valleys and pastures adn were preyed on by natural preadtors like wolves, the life would be shorter perhaps yes, but would it be less in value' (not for the wolves stomach, but yes for the guy sold me my 10th sweater). We must recognise this whole cycle for what it is. And I am not saying that it is wrong to eat meat or buy wool. Buy I think we should just stop putting veils of fake rationality in front of our eyes. Also I would dispute Ellen's statement that they love their sheep like their "pets" - its inherently anthropocentric and I am sure that the love actually only goes one way - the sheep to you, as they love you for the emotional security you give them, this is assuming of course that you cannot feel love for something just because it gives your monetary security. – but that is another issue interily. Anyways – I believe that at the core these are just a rationality or a way to look at the situations we are in that may provide us a way to mask and distract us from looking deeper at some of the more ethical questions underneath our assumptions. Its like the fox asking the rabbit it just caught “what kinds of spices to you want to be cooked in tonight for dinner'” and the rabbit replies “I don’t want to be cooked for dinner” and the fox replies, “your not answering the question”
Chris said
March 18, 2010 @ 5:02 am
Just thought some might be interested in this site: http://www.fiberfarm.com/
Silvia said
July 30, 2010 @ 8:10 am
Also check out Crazy Quilt Homestead: farmjournal.blogspot.com. They keep rescued sheep and don't allow them to breed. Well said Chris.
Anna said
June 27, 2011 @ 5:32 pm
I grew up on a small farm in north Texas where we owned a few sheep, and from my experiences I believe that wool can, indeed, be humane. Our sheep grazed on our couple of acres of grass, finding shade under trees and living in a barn we had on our property. My mother would shear them in the spring, after the cold had gone, so that they would be more comfortable when it got hot. She would sell their wool in the fall, as sweaters or yarn. All of our sheep were treated as individuals and respected, like animals should be. I think that wool does not have to be inhumane, but it's difficult to find a large producer of wool without compromising the integrity of the operation.
loz said
July 6, 2011 @ 12:52 pm
you should check out www.izzylane.co.uk for ethical wool
Ruth (Paloma Textiles) said
January 29, 2012 @ 7:18 pm
I have not checked this comment thread for a while; thank you all for your additions to the discussion, and to the links you have so graciously provided. Chris offers some good points, and yes, I agree with Anna that sheep can be raised humanely (and other wool-bearing animals as well), although there are others who I know will disagree with me. I think it's good to keep the conversation going even when we disagree. Thank you all.
Tom said
October 25, 2012 @ 5:49 pm
I'm not here to be critical of anyone who has good intentions. To say that livestock that is treated well during it's productive years, then sold to humane slaughter, really misses the point of animal welfare. The questions are, should animals be raised domestically at all' Is it ever in the best interests of the welfare of an animal to be kept domestically, or is any keeping of domestic animals an ethical compromise' Should all animals be left in their natural state, to live and die with as little human involvement as possible'
Tom said
October 25, 2012 @ 5:50 pm
It seems that I can't use a question mark in this forum: '?'?'?'?'?'?'