If you’re a kid, then this video is for you! Today we’re going to talk about why wool
is baaaaaaad. That was me making a sheep noise….I’ll let them do it instead. Today we’re going
to talk about why wool is [sheep baa-ing] That’s much better.
Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. I’m so excited
to finally be making another video just for you. So far in my videos for kids we’ve
talked about why we don’t drink milk, or eat meat or eggs or honey, how you can be
a superhero for the planet, the people and the animals by being vegan and even heard
from real vegan kids! You can watch all of those videos later if you want linked there
and in the video description below.
Now just like in my other videos I promise that I’m not going to show you anything
scary, that I’ll tell you the truth no matter what and that I won’t talk down to you,
because you’re pretty smart!
If you don’t already know, wool is the name we use for the hair of sheep, goats, llamas,
camels, rabbits, and oxen. But usually when people talk about wool, they mean sheep’s
wool, and that’s what we’re gong to talk about today.
People use wool to make all kinds of things from socks to hats to coats to furniture and
mattresses to rugs to those itchy sweaters you get as presents…you know the ones.
Now if you’ve ever gotten a haircut, you know it doesn’t hurt, though it may make
you look funny. So what’s the problem with wool?
Isn’t it just like giving sheep a haircut?
Well there are several reasons that vegans don’t wear wool. If you don’t already know,
being vegan means you don’t eat animals or anything that comes out of them like milk,
eggs, cheese, or honey or wear anything from their bodies, like wool!
Some of what we’re going to talk about today is sad and kinda hard to hear, but I promise
to be right here with you all the way through it. Sheep who are raised for wool often have
holes punched in their ears for tags and their tails docked, which means cut off, and they’re
not given any pain medicine. I don’t have to tell you how much that would hurt!
Humans have bred sheep so that they produce a crazy amount of wool. More than they
do naturally. It’s like if your hair grew extra fast! They also make the sheep have
wrinkled skin so there’s more space for more wool to grow. In nature, sheep grow
just the right amount of wool. And when it gets warm, they shed it just like you
take your coat off when you’re hot.
But the sheep in the wool industry grow too much wool and they can get way too hot. When
it’s time to take their wool, which is called shearing, workers often go too fast and end
up cutting the sheep. You see the faster they go the more money they make, and with the
really thick wool and wrinkly skins, it’s easy to have an accident. The sheep again
aren’t given any pain medicine while they’re stitched up to close the cuts.
Because the sheep are scared and don’t like being sheared – and who can blame them!
They often struggle to get away. And workers will stand on them or punch and kick them
to keep them still. That’s a pretty horrible thing to go through for a sweater,
don't you think?
Sometimes sheep have their wool taken while it’s still cold outside, so they’re left
in freezing weather without their coat. Sadly, a lot of sheep die from being too cold.
One of the worst parts of the wool industry is something called mulesing. It’s a pretty
weird-sounding word and it means something pretty awful. Because these sheep have so
much wool, their backsides can get really dirty when they go to the bathroom. I mean
can you imagine if you had a really furry bottom? It would get pretty gross back there.
And flies love gross stuff, so they get into the dirty wool and lay eggs. This is really
bad for the sheep and they can get infections, called flystrike.
So, what wool farmers will do is mulesing, which means, and this is the awful part, that
they cut the sheep’s skin off around their bottom. The worst part is that they don’t
give them any pain medicine. I’m sure you can imagine that this hurts really, really bad.
And the most ridiculous part is that some sheep will die from the infections they
get from what the farmers are doing to prevent the infections from the flies. And the flies wouldn’t
be there if humans didn’t make the sheep have too much wool.
I’m sure you’re starting to see what’s wrong with this picture, right?
Probably one of the saddest parts is that eventually the sheep stop making as
much wool. So the farmers send them off on trucks or even on ships for long journeys.
They can get sick while travelling because there are so many of them together. They travel
through hot and cold weather without any protection, sometimes for weeks before they arrive.
Not all of the sheep make it alive.
For those that do, the end is not any better. They are killed for humans to eat as a kind
of meat that we call mutton. Baby sheep, who are only 2 months to one year old, are also
killed for a meat that’s simply called lamb.
Some of the places wool sheep go to be killed don’t put them to sleep first.
It's a very sad, very painful, and very scary end to a very sad, very painful, and very scary life.
But here’s the good news. You don’t have to wear wool, or eat mutton, or eat lamb!
There are so many kinds of fabrics we can make from plants and man-made materials, like organic
cotton, linen, bamboo, tencel, modal, hemp, recycled polyester, banana tree fiber, flax,
recycled plastic, and so many more! I have a list on the blog post for this video, which
you can find linked down below. I also tell you there which wool alternatives
are better for the environment.
When you choose not to wear wool, you save sheep from going through all of the horrible
things that we talked about. And that’s pretty amazing. Leaving animals alone to keep their
hair, their fur, their skin and their lives is such a powerful choice.
And it's one that you get to make. Just think of how thankful the animals will be!
Before I go I want to share a very special story with you. My friends at Toronto Pig
Save did an amazing thing. They saved the life of this one little lamb. She is 2 months
old and was going to be one of the babies killed for humans to eat like we talked about.
But this one little lamb was rescued and now gets to run and jump and play like all little
lambs should. Her name is Ooby in memory of my bulldog Ooby who recently passed away.
And today, the day this video is being posted, is Ooby the bulldog’s birthday. And now
Ooby the sheep has a brand new life and will be forever safe and loved.
That’s the power of your choice to be vegan. You can be a hero for the animals just by choosing not to eat
or wear anything that comes from their bodies. And that’s pretty amazing.
I hope this video was helpful. Let me know what you thought of the video in the comments
and if you have other things you’d like me to cover, feel free to tell me!
If you liked this video, do give it a thumbs up and share it around to help other kids
learn the truth. If you’re new here, do hit that big red subscribe button down there
for more awesome vegan content every Monday, Wednesday, and some Fridays and not to miss
out the on the rest of my videos for kids. If you’re an adult and you want to help
support Bite Size Vegan, check out either of the support links in the video description
below or click the Nugget Army icon or the link in the sidebar. Now go live vegan,
leave the wool to the sheep, and I’ll see you soon!