Will Yorkshire Council Approve PETA’s ‘E(n)d Shearin’’ Sheep Statue: The Shape of Ewe?

Will Yorkshire Council Approve PETA’s ‘E(n)d Shearin’’ Sheep Statue: The Shape of Ewe?

Bradford, West Yorkshire – PETA has sent a letter to Bradford Council Chief Executive Lorraine O’Donnell with a ewenique request: to display a statue of a sheep – named “E(n)d Shearin’” after the West Yorkshire singer Ed Sheeran – which is decorated with messages created by renowned cartoonist Harry Bliss describing how these gentle animals suffer in the wool industry.

A proposal to erect the statue in the US city of San Angelo, Texas – once nicknamed the “Wool Capital of the World” – was recently rejected, but then the decision to deny it was overturned. The statue is now destined for placement in the Texas city in 2024, and PETA is appealing to officials in Bradford – also once referred to as the “Wool Capital of the World” – to place the statue there, too.

“Sheep feel pain and fear, love their flock members, and don’t deserve to be cut to ribbons for wool – something that happens in shearing sheds in the UK and beyond,” says PETA Vice President of Programmes Elisa Allen. “PETA’s ‘E(n)d Shearin’’ statue will remind passers-by of the suffering behind each wool jumper and scarf and encourage them to wear animal-friendly vegan wool instead.”

PETA entities have uncovered systemic cruelty to sheep in the wool industry at over 100 shearing operations on four continents in the last few years. PETA’s exposés of the wool trade have documented rampant abuse, including bloody wounds and violent treatment, such as kicking, hitting, and slamming sheep to the floor. Shearers are paid by volume, not by the hour, which encourages fast, rough handling that can leave the animals with gaping wounds. In light of their findings, PETA entities filed complaints with the relevant authorities, which has led to convictions in Australia and Scotland.

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 Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, or Instagram.

Contact:

Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]

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