Exposed: Brutal Treatment of Sheep by Sick Farm Workers Caught on Horrifying Video
Welfare campaigners' two-year probe reveals shocking treatment of sheep being sheared for their valuable wool
Horrific footage has emerged showing sheep being punched, kicked and brutally killed by sick workers on wool farms.
The animals can be heard screeching in pain while being thrown to the ground and even having their necks broken.
Some were stamped on and violently stabbed in the face by brutal shearers on farms believed to be supplying British retailers with merino wool.
Animal welfare campaigners PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) claims to have gathered the footage during nearly two years working undercover at 19 shearing sheds in Australia and 14 farms in the US.
The two countries are the source of 90 per cent of the merino wool sold throughout the world.
Their video evidence shows scores of animals being beaten as ruthless, muscle-bound men violently grab them to shave off their thick wool.
PETA is sending the footage to British retailers including Marks and Spencer, Next, Asos, New Look and Topshop.
But there is no suggestion any of them knowingly buy wool from such sources. Last night none were available for comment.
The group wants to force UK retailers to pull merino wool from shelves claiming there is “no such things as humane wool”.
PETA UK Associate Director Mimi Bekhechi. “PETA is calling on shoppers around the world to reject cruelty to animals – and that means never buying wool.”
PeTA
Australia's Wool Industry exposed Authorities in Australia and the US are considering criminal prosecutions for workers responsible for the cruelty.
In one incident in Colorado, a shearer killed a sheep by repeatedly twisting and bending its neck until it broke. As he kicked the dying animal head-first down a chute, he said, “I might have killed it”.
The brute admitted that he had previously injured another sheep by bending the animal’s neck back, excusing himself with the words, “I get angry”.
The PETA investigation is the group's latest campaign to appeal to retailers and consumers to behave more ethically.
In December last year, high street stores cancelled orders of angora clothes after seeing video evidence of the horrific treatment of rabbits farmed for their fur.
Footage showed animals screeching in pain as fur is ripped from their skin on farms in China. In other scenes, rabbits are tethered with rope and brutally sheared by men armed with metal scissors.
Mimi Bekhechi added: “PETA’s exposé highlights just some of the beatings and systemic suffering that investigators uncovered in an industry where abuse is pervasive.
"The investigators saw cruelty in every one of the 19 Australian sheds they visited, documenting that 70 workers for nine shearing contractors abused sheep in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.
“The cruelty spanned 14 ranches across Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska. And no one was ever seen being reprimanded for this cruelty.
“There is no such thing as “humane” wool.
“We’re asking people to please leave wool out of their wardrobe and instead choose from the many warm, stylish cruelty-free alternative materials available today, including cotton, acrylic, and other plant-based or synthetic fibers.”
Horrific Footage of Sheep Being Beaten by Wool Workers: