Pink Launches Global Boycott Of Australian Wool

For Immediate Release:
December 19, 2006

Contact:
Karen Chisholm 020 7357 9229; ext 229; [email protected]

Singer Hosts PETA Video Exposing Lamb Mutilations and Live Sheep Export Cruelty

Paris — Outspoken rocker Pink used the occasion of her arena concert in the fashion capital of the world to call for an international boycott of Australian wool until the industry’s mutilation of lambs and cruel live sheep export practices ends. At a news conference just before her concert at the Paris-Bercy arena on Tuesday evening, the singer screened her shocking new PETA video exposé of Australian wool cruelty.

“If you’re like most people, you already refuse to wear fur because of the obvious cruelty involved, and like me, you may even look for the stylish alternatives to leather,” says Pink in the video. “But what about wool? Most of us have never thought about it. Sadly, like any other industry that uses animals, the wool trade uses methods so sadistic that it makes you consider clearing your closet of any animal products.”

In the disturbing four-minute video, which is being launched on multiple Web sites, including www.PETA.org, Pink shows viewers the suffering that merino sheep endure in the Australian wool industry. Millions of lambs are mutilated each year by having chunks of skin carved from their backsides—without any pain relief—in a practice known as “mulesing.” Viewers also learn about the cruel fate of sheep past their wool-producing prime, who are crammed onto multitiered “death ships” bound for the Middle East, a weeks-long voyage in which many die from injuries or starvation, while many of those who arrive alive in the Middle East have their throats slit in filthy, open-air markets while they are still conscious. For years, PETA has been pressuring the Australian government to make good on its pledge to stop the lamb mutilations and to establish state-of-the-art slaughterhouses in Australia to eliminate the extreme cruelty associated with live export. 

Broadcast-quality copies of Pink’s video is available. More information on PETA’s investigation into the wool trade can be found at www.SaveTheSheep.com.

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