Date Posted: 16 Oct 2004
Ban on 'cruel' Australian wool
From correspondents in Los Angeles
A LEADING American fashion retailer has banned the use of Australian merino wool in its products after pressure from the world's largest animal rights group.
Abercrombie & Fitch, with 749 stores and $US1.2 billion ($1.66 billion) in annual revenue, introduced the boycott this week after the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) threatened to conduct a campaign against the retailer.
PETA was just weeks away from launching a controversial newspaper and website campaign against Abercrombie & Fitch because of its use of Australian wool.
The animal rights group alleges Australia's wool and sheep industry uses cruel techniques, including mulesing.
PETA is also targeting more than 20 other high-profile US retailers and hopes Abercrombie's decision will force these companies to also introduce boycotts of Australian wool.
"I think A&F understands that most young people and all compassionate consumers don't want to pay for cruelty so I think the company made the right decision to join our boycott," PETA campaign co-ordinator Matt Rice said today.
Abercrombie & Fitch stores are found in most major US shopping malls and its clothes are favourites of fashion conscious American teenagers and college students.
Celebrities, including Australian actress Poppy Montgomery, are regularly used in the retailer's advertising campaigns.
The company confirmed to PETA this week in a letter it would boycott Australian merino wool.
"Abercrombie & Fitch considers the proper treatment of animals to be of critical concern and it is committed to that end," Abercrombie & Fitch's director of investor relations Thomas Lennox wrote to PETA.
"We shall not support the Australian merino wool market until both the practice of mulesing is ended and the live exporting of Australian sheep ceases and thus we do not support or defend either the practice of mulesing or the live exporting of Australian sheep.
"To that end, A&F does not intend to knowingly sell products using Australian merino wool until both practices are ended."
PETA describes mulesing as a "procedure whereby Australian farmers mutilate lambs - without painkillers - by carving flesh from the animals' upturned, trussed backsides in a crude effort to reduce flystrike".
The group alleges there are other more "sophisticated and humane control methods" to reduce flystrike.
PETA had sent copies of its potential ad campaign to Abercrombie & Fitch executives and video tapes of mulesing.
One of the ads has a photo of sheep underlined with the words: "Ditch the Fitch".
A message with the ad reads: "Abercrombie or Abercruelty? Does the thought of lambs having chunks of skin carved off their backsides make your skin crawl? It's too baaad that Abercrombie & Fitch is perfectly happy knowing that sheep are tortured just to make the company a buck".
Also on the ad, Abercrombie & Fitch's logo, A&F, is splattered with red ink representing blood.
Mr Rice said PETA would now halt the campaign against Abercrombie & Fitch and look at other US retailers who use Australian wool.
"We spent a lot of time on those campaign materials, but we're happy to throw them out now they have joined us," Mr Rice said.
"We have to see where else we can go to get more companies to follow Abercrombie & Fitch's lead and boycott Australian wool as well."
Mr Rice said PETA had targeted "two dozen" US retailers.
"I would wager an estimate of a couple of dozen that we've issued letters out to and sent videos to," Mr Rice said.
"We've had positive feedback from some, some we haven't heard anything back from and some we've received negative feedback from so we're definitely in the process right now of deciding who will be our potential target."
PETA has threatened the Australian government for months that it would incite a worldwide boycott of Australian wool products if changes were not made to the nation's treatment of sheep.
The campaign has included letters to Prime Minister John Howard and Labor leader Mark Latham.
"We've heard some replies, but nothing satisfactory," Mr Rice said.
AAP
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=2091729
