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Update: February 8, 2022
In response to hearing from our members and supporters, Rothy’s is making misleading claims about the treatment of sheep.
Do NOT be fooled by Rothy’s humane washing. There is no such thing as “humane” or “ethical” wool—no matter where it comes from. PETA investigations at more than 100 wool operations on four continents have repeatedly proved that sheep are hit, kicked, and stomped on and their skin is cut to shreds, including by those producing supposedly “sustainable” or “responsible” wool. When PETA observers visited a so-called “responsible wool” supplier, they saw heavily pregnant sheep being whipped, sent stumbling down slippery ramps, sheared so quickly that most sustained bloody wounds, and driven into the desert to give birth in freezing temperatures. No standards, including the Responsible Wool Standard, will ever eliminate cruelty in the wool industry. When sheep no longer produce enough wool to be considered “useful,” they’re sent to slaughterhouses, where their throats are slit, often while they’re still conscious.
The only way to eliminate the wool industry’s cruelty to sheep is not to buy wool.
Rothy’s—a company known for producing footwear from recycled materials—has kept 100 tons of plastic out of waterways by transforming it into fashion-forward shoes and handbags. So why has it gone back on its commitment to the planet by funding the wool industry?
Inexplicably, this formerly vegan company is making products with merino wool, despite hearing from PETA that undercover investigations into 117 wool operations on four continents revealed extreme violence against gentle sheep at every single one. PETA entities filmed workers punching sheep in the face, stomping on them, standing on their heads and necks, beating them with sharp metal clippers, carelessly slicing their skin open, and roughly stitching up the wounds—with no painkillers.
Rothy’s touts its wool as Responsible Wool Standard (RWS)–certified, but this label doesn’t protect sheep from suffering. RWS “monitoring” is done primarily through scheduled farm visits once a year. The label doesn’t require specific shearing methods or even the installation of cameras in sheds that would help monitor and prevent abuse, nor does it address how sheep are restrained during shearing or how and when they are weaned. Meanwhile, as a part of animal agriculture, the wool industry is a leading contributor to climate change, desertification, water pollution, and dead zones.
Sheep share our capacity for pain, hunger, fear, thirst, love, joy, and loneliness, and they deserve to be treated with respect and compassion. We can reject speciesism by recognizing that every animal has the right to live free from human exploitation.
Please use the form below to urge Rothy’s to honor its commitment to responsibility and sustainability by dropping wool.