Why not wool? It’s just like getting a haircut.

On the way to a work function this week I discovered that two of my work colleagues are vegetarians. However after a little further discussion I found out that in fact one was pescatarian. There was a fourth colleague present who began asking me about veganism. When I explained that I didn't consume or wear any animal products including wool, she asked: 'Why not wool? It’s just like getting a haircut.'

The process involved in shearing a sheep is certainly not like any haircut I've received. I don't recall a dog chasing me down the street biting at my legs, herding me into the hairdressers. Nor do I recall the hairdresser pinning me to the ground while they manhandled my head. But perhaps she frequents a different hairdresser to me.

In order for wool to end up on your back, sheep are firstly deprived of the right to a self directed life, they are, put simply, enslaved. Sheep are kept in fenced enclosures that leave them susceptible to death through fire, flood, exposure and predators. They are mutilated through a process called ‘Mulesing’ were they have their tails cut off with no anaesthetic, with many leading to infection. Finally, the sheep are sold for their flesh, where they endure long journeys in cramped conditions, often dying from suffocation or through being crushed. When they get to the slaughterhouse the misery only continues.

Sheep endure this life of slavery for no legitimate reason. This is not out of necessity, this is not a case of life or death. There are alternatives to wool that do not use animals, it is merely produced for our pleasure. Sheep are sentient beings who can suffer as we can suffer. Sheep have the potential to lead rich fulfilling lives which we deprive them of. We therefore have a moral obligation to stop this.

By purchasing wool I would be creating demand which feeds supply. If people stopped buying wool the industry would shift to the products that people bought instead. This is basic economics.

Let me be clear, if there were better conditions for sheep this wouldn’t convince me to purchase wool. The fact that sheep are enslaved and considered property is immoral and unnecessary. During times of widespread human slavery activists didn’t argue for better conditions, they demanded the abolition of slavery. This is no different. Slavery cannot be justified for pleasure or convenience.