In Australia, where more than 50 percent of the world’s merino wool - which is used in products ranging from clothing to carpets - comes from, lambs are forced to endure a gruesome procedure called mulesing, in which huge chunks of skin and flesh are cut from the animals’ backsides, without any painkillers. When their wool production declines, some sheep are shipped to the Middle East on crowded multilevel ships.
These journeys are to countries where animal welfare standards are non-existent. The suffering sheep are dragged off the ships, loaded onto trucks, and dragged by their ears and legs to unregulated slaughterhouses, where their throats are slit while they are still conscious.
Sheep are gentle individuals who, like all animals, feel pain, fear, and loneliness. But because there is a market for their fleece and skins, they are treated as nothing more than wool-producing machines. No amount of fluff can hide the fact that anyone who buys wool supports a cruel and bloody industry.

H&M distances itself from mulesing. H&M does not accept mulesing, the surgical procedure carried out on merino sheep in Australia in order to prevent flystrike. The company has decided to direct its buying towards other countries of origin and other suppliers in Australia that can guarantee mulesing-free merino wool.
H&M has worked for the abolition of mulesing for several years. Since 2005 there has been an agreement between the National Retail Federation (NRF), of which H&M is a member, and the Australian wool industry (Australian Wool Innovation) which means that mulesing will be replaced by more animal-friendly methods by 2010. The decision to concentrate our buying on products that use mulesing-free merino wool was taken because the company feels that the phase-out of the practice is proceeding too slowly.

Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals: The Sheep: This Code is intended as a guide for all people responsible for the welfare and husbandry of sheep. This edition has been revised in line with the most recent recommendations of the Animal Welfare Working Group within the Primary Industries Ministerial Council.

OIPA commend H&M for adding its name to the growing worldwide effort to stop mulesing.

Paola Ghidotti
OIPA International Campaigns Director