Will CBBC Teach Children the Truth About Woolly Jumpers?
Will CBBC Teach Children the Truth About Woolly Jumpers?
London – Today, PETA sent a letter urging the Children’s British Broadcasting Corporation (CBBC) to post its short educational video – in which animal puppets sing a catchy song about how their wool, feathers, and skin are used to make clothing and accessories – on the CBBC website.
The video sees Harry Potter actor and vegan Jessie Cave visiting “Red River Farm” in anticipation of a happy sing-song. Instead, the animals share tales of rough shearing, painful plucking, and other cruelty documented on farms. “Sheepie”, for example, tells Cave exactly what sheep like her endure in the wool industry, singing, “They shave me so aggressively, my skin gets sliced up, too,” while revealing her bloody, open wounds to the camera.
The video, reminiscent of beloved puppet shows such as Rainbow and Sesame Street, aims to encourage children and adults alike to make kind clothing choices.
“Children should be told the truth about how animals on farms and in shearing sheds are treated,” says PETA Vice President of Programmes Elisa Allen. “Children have a natural affinity for animals, and learning how they suffer for items made of their fleece and skin would only bolster their empathy.”
More than 1 billion animals are killed worldwide in the leather trade every single year, from cows and calves to horses, lambs, goats, and pigs – and even dogs and cats. Snakes are typically nailed to trees before being skinned alive, and sheep raised for wool are routinely mutilated, abused, and eventually killed.
PETA entities have documented cruelty to sheep at 117 wool operations worldwide – including in England and Scotland – revealed in 15 exposés showing that even on farms marketed as “sustainable” and “responsible”, workers beat, stamped on, cut up, and slit the throats of conscious, struggling sheep.
PETA’s letter to CBBC is available upon request. PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
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