Wool growers call Euro boycott a beat-up

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LOLOL!!!!!! Duh, maybe they'll get tired of non healing black eyes and stop mulesing! The Australian sheep industry has labelled the latest European boycott of Australian wool over mulesing concerns as "just another beat-up". Matalan, a discount chain with about 200 stores across Britain, agreed to the boycott after meeting with animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). "We have instructed our suppliers they must not source Australian merino wool for any future orders," Matalan spokesman David Mellett said in an email to PETA. But the Australian Sheep and Wool Industry Taskforce said on Thursday the boycott was a joke because Matalan had never sourced wool from Australia. "This is just another PETA beat-up," the taskforce's secretariat manager Norman Blackman told AAP. "Obviously, any retailer coming out with a public

statement like that is not what we like to see. "But this retailer has not been using Australian wool and, given the nature of their product range, they are unlikely to do so in the future." About 50 European retailers, including Swedish giant H & M, along with American chains Timberland and Abercrombie & Fitch, have agreed to boycott Australian wool. The retailers say they are concerned about the mulesing process, which involves slicing off a patch of skin from the rear of sheep to prevent fly-strike and maggot infestation. Australian woolgrowers have agreed to phase out the practice by 2010, but PETA says that's not soon enough. The animal rights group also argues the anti-mulesing policy won't be mandatory. But Mr Blackman insists the Australian industry is working towards eliminating the practice altogether. "By the end of 2010 we'll have all the tools in place so people won't

need to mules," he said. The tools include alternatives such as a clip device which removes the skin in a bloodless way and, longer term, breeding the wrinkled rear areas out of sheep altogether. Mr Blackman said whether or not the anti-mulesing policy was mandatory would be up to governments. But, he said, it was a moot point anyway as "the markets" would demand wool from non-mulesed sheep after 2010. Nevertheless, PETA plans to continue a series of protests outside Australian embassies in Europe, including one in the Finnish capital of Helsinki. Others are planned for Copenhagen, Vienna and Berlin in coming weeks. Mr Blackman said the embassy protests were simply stunts with "only a few people there for an hour or so". He said PETA's publicity campaign wasn't hurting the industry's bottom line. "We're not seeing any impact at this stage at all," he said.

"We're getting positive feedback from (European retailers) about the continued use of Australian wool." Yeah, right. http://pets.Fortheanimals7/join