{"id":44982,"date":"2014-07-28T12:00:38","date_gmt":"2014-07-28T11:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=44982"},"modified":"2015-05-05T21:33:36","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:33:36","slug":"petas-undercover-shearing-videos-expose-horrific-sheep-abuse-in-u-s-and-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/07\/petas-undercover-shearing-videos-expose-horrific-sheep-abuse-in-u-s-and-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"PETA\u2019s Undercover Shearing Videos Expose Horrific Sheep Abuse in U.S. and Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It would be tough to think of any disgusting, gutless acts that <em>aren\u2019t<\/em> featured in new videos about brutal sheep shearing in Australia and the U.S., produced by\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/investigations.peta.org\/australia-us-wool\/\" >People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals<\/a> (PETA).<\/p>\n<p>The videos are full of undercover footage, not unlike the last month\u2019s video of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/ecowatch.com\/2014\/06\/27\/buried-alive-chickens-investigation\/\" >buried-alive chickens<\/a> produced by\u00a0Washington DC-based\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/cok.net\/\" >Compassion Over Killing<\/a>. However, these might be worse.<\/p>\n<p>With sheep getting punched in the face, dragged on the floor, beaten with hammers and even swiped across a wooden floor to wipe urine, both videos are certainly more graphic. Be warned.<\/p>\n<p>httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-zHjY9Pc0Nk<\/p>\n<p>PETA investigators\u00a0documented\u00a070 workers\u00a0employed by nine shearing contractors in Victoria and New South Wales\u2014Australia\u2019s top wool-producing states\u2014as well as South Australia. Collectively, they shear about 4 million sheep per year.<\/p>\n<p>Even worse, many of the shearers began their kicking and punching after the sheep expressed fear. They were also often deprived of food and water before the process even began.<\/p>\n<p>One explanation for the cruelty is that most shearers are paid by volume instead of by the hour. That systematically encourages fast-paced, violent work.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just an Australian practice, though. PETA also exposed shearers in the U.S. for being just as violent in another video. One shearer calmly says, \u201cI might have killed it,\u201d after he is shown twisting its neck.<\/p>\n<p>httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=G9gKaB3pssY&amp;oref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DG9gKaB3pssY&amp;has_verified=1<\/p>\n<p>In the U.S., PETA\u2019s investigator documented 14 ranches\u00a0in Wyoming\u2014the country\u2019s second-leading wool producer\u2014as well as Colorado and Nebraska. In 2013,\u00a03.7 million sheep\u00a0were shorn in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>PETA is asking consumers to refrain from buying and wearing wool products as a result of its findings. It also hopes people will sign its petition asking J. Crew and Ralph Lauren to drop sheep products from their clothing lines. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/investigations.peta.org\/australia-us-wool\/\" >Click here<\/a> and scroll to the bottom to find the petition.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/ecowatch.com\/2014\/07\/18\/peta-undercover-sheep-abuse\/?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&amp;utm_campaign=e272f87707-Top_News_7_21_2014&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-e272f87707-85881545\" >Go to Original \u2013 ecowatch.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It would be tough to think of any disgusting, gutless acts that aren\u2019t featured in new videos about brutal sheep shearing in Australia and the U.S., produced by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animal-rights-vegetarianism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}