A Purl-fect 10! Olympian and Keen Knitter Tom Daley Wins PETA Award for Sheep-Free Yarn Line
09.06.2025
London – An Animal-Friendly Future Award from PETA is on its way to Olympic diver Tom Daley – an avid knitter and crocheter with his own crafting brand – for his creation of a cotton blend yarn line that leaves sheep in peace and wool where it belongs: on its original owners. The yarn, called “The Cottony One,” is a plant-powered cotton blend and comes in a wide range of colours, including “Marvelous Mushroom,” “Gold Medal,” and “Olive Twist.”
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“Tom Daley’s soft yet sturdy cotton-blend yarn will have even the most discerning knitters hooked on animal-friendly fibres that keep sheep from being shorn bloody,” says PETA Vice President of Programmes and Operations Elisa Allen. “PETA is delighted to recognise him and urges compassionate crafters everywhere to ditch wool knits and use only cosy, cruelty-free vegan yarns.”
Sheep can recognise the faces of at least 50 other sheep and will wag their tails when they’re happy. In the wool industry, farmers commonly sever lambs’ tails and castrate the males without pain relief. A recent PETA exposé revealed pervasive cruelty at “responsible” wool operations in New Zealand, where petrified sheep were routinely beaten, kicked, thrown down chutes, and slammed to the ground by workers. Because shearers are usually paid by volume, not by the hour, they’re incentivised to work quickly and often leave sheep with gaping, open wounds that are crudely sewn shut with no pain relief.
Wool production is also extremely damaging to the environment. Sheep are second only to cows in the global production of methane, which is 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in warming the Earth. The wool industry also produces massive amounts of faecal waste and contributes to soil erosion and desertification of ecosystems. In contrast, plant wools like hemp, flax and soya, have a far smaller carbon footprint.
Daley will receive a letter of recognition and a framed certificate from PETA.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear or abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow PETA on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.
Contact:
Sascha Camilli +44 207 923 6244; [email protected]
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