Sydney Daily Telegraph (AUS)
Celebrities unite to battle animal activists
By Samantha Williams
June 09, 2008
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23833458-421,00.htmlSOME of Australia's biggest names have told an extreme US animal
rights group to back off in its campaign to boycott a national icon.
As People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) convinced
another international retailer to boycott Australian wool that has
been mulesed, leading fashion designer Alex Perry has thrown his
weight behind the wool industry.
"PETA needs to back off," Mr Perry said.
"I understand where they are coming from, there needs to be
alternative to mulesing, but give farmers a chance to develop it."
Mulesing involves cutting the skin and wool from a sheep's backside to
stop blowflies from laying eggs.
Mr Perry, along with rugby league star Nathan Hindmarsh, Myer, country
music singers Gina Jeffreys, Shannon Noll and John Williamson want
PETA to stop attacking wool farmers.
Mr Perry, the judge of Australia's Next Top Model, said executives
sitting in offices overseas like New York should not be making a
decision to boycott goods without all the facts.
He used Australian wool in his recent winter collection and vowed to
continue to use it in the future.
"Wool is a huge export and the rest of the world gets our best, but
PETA goes to the extreme and it doesn't understand how it impacts on
our industry," he said.
The industry - which last year exported 395,000 tonnes of wool valued
at $2.09 billion - has agreed to phase out mulesing by 2010 and is
already using alternatives like anaesthetic and plastic clips.
But the group has not backed off.
Fifth-generation wool grower Jamie Swales, who runs 10,000 sheep near
Armidale, said he was gradually phasing out mulesing.
"We will try and gradually breed out wrinkly backsides by selecting
sheep with less wrinkle, but it takes time, it doesn't happen
overnight," he said. "Farmers don't mules sheep to be cruel, it's the
better option available. Instead of crucifying us, (PETA) should be
working with us to come up with alternatives."
PETA claims it has convinced 34 international companies with more than
3000 stores across the US and Europe to join its campaign. The latest
is German-based companies, Adidas and Clemens and August, which have
followed in the steps of Swedish-based AB Lindex, to black-ban
Australian wool that has been mulesed.
AB Lindex spokeswoman Sara Carlsson confirmed PETA had been "steering"
the company over animal rights issues.
She could not explain what mulesing was or why it was done when The
Daily Telegraph questioned her about the issue
"I have never seen this. I can't explain it to you," she said.
"We are a fashion company not an expert on how to treat animals. We
want to shame Australia into seeing that mulesing ends, it's important
to put pressure of Australian industry to look at other options."
Myer National Corporate Affairs Manager Mitch Catlin yesterday added:
"Myer is throwing its support behind our Aussie farmers, given we are
Australia's largest department store and the home of leading Aussie
designers and fashion."