Animals kept for wool production tend to be reasonably well cared for because if the animal is in poor health it will reflect on the quality of the wool.
I really have no idea on the conditions animals reared for wool live in. But as the above poster said, the wool woudnt be very good if the animals werent being cared for. Also, I dont think shearing sheep/angora etc... causes any distress to them, so I cant really see any problem with wool. Im far more concerned with how animals are reared for meat production. Unless I see or hear of any evidence of animals suffering through wool production, then I have no problem with it.
When I worked at the Farm Sanctuary, I was told by my vegan internship coordinator that due to the breeding of sheep to have many folds of skin to produce more wool, there is a flap of skin on their backside that has a tendency to gather fecal matter and get gummed up. If what he told me is true, the farmer chops it off without anesthesia so as to avoid having to clean up a mess every day. It sounds so outrageous, I don't know whether or not to believe it, but I thought foie gras and debeaking sounded cruel too, and they're true... That said, I don't see anything fundamentally wrong with it. If you do it right.
i live by a farm that has sheep. i take my dog over there quite offen. she (my dog) is a herding dog, and to her herding the sheep is fun. sheep do get poop in their hair/wool all the time. what they do about it is, they wash them regulary and trim the hair/wool around their anus. i don't doubt for a moment, that there are some assholes out there, who do pull the type of shit firefly is talking about.
That's nice, blackcat. It's always good to hear of people doing things the right way. A lot of places around here are what I like to think of as humane farms. Everything is free-range in the purest sense of the word, except for a few douchebags who obviously let their animals sit in their own filth. Not good for them OR for us.
thanks for the feedback. I wanted to know what other animal lovers like myself thought of this because i am planning on having a little "herd" as they call it for myself, I love the idea of a pet that in return for your love and care gives you wool every 4 months or so! I'm a craftsperson, I love creating things myself and want to eventually (when we can afford to buy a house) to have a small farm with free range well cared for chickens for eggs. Some angora goats maybe to spin with my angora from my bunnies. and to grow veggies and herbs, and have a little store off to the side of my house where I sell home-made quilts, scarves, jams, bread, home grown veggies etc. I also plan to breed the bunnies but only because where I live you can't get them! I have to pay twice the price of the bunny to get it shipped here! and I'm sure some of the MANY craftspeople around would love to have one of these pets. My plan is to get a well bred male and female and at first have one single breeding. then see what homes there are around for them. If there are a lot of people wanting one then I will get some more bunny (so that each female will only have one litter(I am very concerned for the safety and wellbeing of any animal that is bred... If I were having a baby I would want to be taken good care of as well) AND if there aren't any homes for them, I will keep the first litter of babies for myself and not bother breeding again. I actually am interested in this because I love this breed so much, I really just want to breed them to experience the breed and the colors and the wool and their sweet temperament. I don't care if I never make a cent! And the reason i asked is because i am against most breeding, i think there are very few breeders out there with the right intentions (especially relative the the number of breeders out there who don't!) and I would NEVER want anyone to think of me that way or think that i was harming my animals or endangering them or giving them a poor life... I plan to make these rabbits part of my family and love them and give them the best care i can, and would never sell any bunny born in my home to anyone with any less than that intended for it. so i would like to know what you think, and if there is anything I didn't say or was misunderstood... please feel free to ask!
You're right, LoveDaisy, most breeders' intentions revolve around money. I think that what you plan to do is fine. I've also considered raising bunnies, because I love to knit. I live on my dad's farm right now, and we have free-range chickens. The eggs are SO much better than store bought ones. And they're huge! Frankly, I don't see anything wrong with using what an animal does not need. Our hens lay their eggs and if they leave them for a day or so, we eat them. If they sit on them, we let the hen hatch them out. Shaving sheep and bunnies (which I think are just brushed?) and letting them live normal lives is not cruel. The fur will grow back, and the animal isn't hurt. It's just a hair cut. I don't see anything cruel about your intentions, and I wish you luck. :] And unfortunately, what Firefly said is true. I read an article in a PeTA magazine (I was young and stupid, I didin't know what I was doing!) about how sheep farmers will sometimes cut off the fold of skin just to keep the wool cleaner. Of course, PeTA made it sound like EVERY sheep farmer does that, but that's not true. Only some do it, and I would imagine they are larger farms where it is more convenient to cause the animals pain than it is to keep each one clean. There's no real excuse for it, but it does happen sometimes. :[
A study I would like to see is the planetary damage compared between the mining/extraction/chemical process in making synthetics, and doing ethical animal fibers. Personally I am willing to bet that the synthetics do far more damage.
