About Cruelty to Livestock

One of the biggest debates in the food industry is around the cruelty to livestock. Vegans, vegetarians, and animal rights activists, often condemn the livestock industry as being cruel. Livestock keepers, and those involved with livestock, often deny any cruelty. In a case of one extreme to the other with neither one willing to bend it is hard to see sense of it all.

I feel it would be better if the livestock industry were honest that some cruelty does exist and that there may be room for improvement. It should also be noted that a lot of the cruelty is related to keeping costs low and this is in fact being pushed by the consumer.

It should also be noted that most of the incidences of cruelty are not simply the result of a farmer wanting to cause pain and suffering simply for the sake of causing pain and suffering to the animal. While this sort of thing does occur on occasion it is rarely by the farmer, or owner, of the livestock, and is more often done by employees.

Since I keep sheep I have taken a part of an article on cruelty to livestock and reposted it here with a link to the whole article below.

 

"Sheep are one of the few livestock animals not commonly kept in a factory type setting, they usually are kept on pasture had have a fairly ideal life, although often cut short for lambs headed to slaughter.

Their lives are not without some cruelty, the worst of which is mulesing. Mulesing is common in Australia and done to Merino sheep. The lambs are hung upside down by their feet and a dinner sized chunk of their rump is cut off without painkillers or antiseptics.

Docking of a lamb's tail is not particularly cruel, in fact because of the social uses of a dog's tail, docking a dog's tail can be considered more cruel than dockinga lamb's tail with the note that docking lamb's tails is done to keep flies away from the dirty tail. Flies can cause fly strike and can kill a lamb. Mulesing is done for the same reason but takes off the rump of the lamb.

Pregnant Karakul ewes are reported to be kicked to induce abortions or early labor. Others are slaughtered right before lambing so their fetal lamb can be harvested for its pelt."

For the record I am not a vegetarian and I am not against the meat industry as a whole, but I strongly dislike some of the “factory farm” methods of keeping other livestock, such as chickens, swine, and dairy cattle.

Cruelty can be reduced and one way of reducing it is to spread awareness to the consumer so they demand better treatment of farm animals and become more knowledgeable about where the meat they buy comes from.

To read the full article click here.

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Please use the comments area to share your opinions on cruelty in the livestock industry and how we can improve things.

Breeds of Sheep whose Wool is Used for Carpets

When we look at the kind of wool sheep have there are 4 main types, of course this is not counting the hair sheep.

Of the wool sheep there are those such as the Merino and Rambouillete who produce fine wool; wool with a diameter under 30 microns. There are long wool sheep such as the Lincoln and Romney. There are the medium wool sheep, who are also meat, such as the Dorset, Suffolk, Texel, and Hampshire, and then there are the carpet wool sheep such as the Scottish Blackface, Navajo Churro, Icelandic, Elliotdale, Carpetmaster, Drysdale, Awassi, and Karakul. Certain breeds of sheep are more popular in certain areas.

The carpet wool sheep tend to have wool that has a diameter greater than 38 microns. The wool is considered too coarse for clothing but is perfect for carpets. The sheep that produce this coarse wool often have thicker double coats, and live in cold climates.

Some people may wonder if collecting wool from a sheep for the purpose of making a carpet is cruel, but it is not as cruel as you might think. Wool is sheared from a sheep not only so we can collect it but also so the sheep do not overheat in the summer. A heavy coat of wool on an animal in the summer can cause heat stroke. Removing the wool also helps the farmer identify any problems with external parasites (keds). 

Occasionally a sheep may be nicked in the process of shearing but a good shearer is fast and does not cause undue stress, or injury, to the animals. 

In contrast a “sheepskin rug” is when the sheep is actually killed and skinned for its pelt.

The fleece that is sheared from a sheep is washed and can be dyed 

If you are looking for a carpet be sure to check Carpetvista, with over 15,000 carpets, and roughly 2,000 added each month you are sure to find the right carpet for you. Their prices are great and they have a 30 day money back guarantee. 

Carpetvista is located in Sweden but they sell affordable quality carpets throughout Europe – prices are indicated in Euros.

Handmade carpets probably originated in central Asia and are now best sold under the name of the area in which the carpet was made or by which group of people made the carpet (example a Persian rug).

Cruelty of the Karakul Lamb Industry

Karakul lambs are often harvested and slaughtered in a brutal manner – being killed just before they were due to be born. That is not the only cruel thing, killing a lamb at this stage means either the mother is killed before giving birth, or kicked repeatedly to induce an “abortion”.

image source

Karakul lamb hides are also marketed as Persian Lamb, or broadtail. The term broadtail specifically refers to the pelt of a lamb harvested in such a way as mentioned, the other term for this is “Fetal-lamb”. If a lamb is born, and to be used in the fur industry it is killed before it is three days old. After that the fur is not as tight in the curls, and the color not as dark.  As the coat in the picture above has tight curls, but is not black - the coat was probably colored gray, or perhaps even sun bleached.

Although we cover issues of raising sheep, and lambs, and understand that many lambs go for slaughter to be consumed as food (either for humans or pets), they are at least given months to live, and their mothers not treated to such cruelty. We encourage people to avoid buying coats,or products, made from Karakul lambs.

Read more on Cruelty in the Karakul Sheep Industry

The Elastrator Tool for Tail Docking and Lamb Castration

In sheep, both tail docking, and castration, are optional.  In some areas these are not done at all as they are seen as cruel, or unnatural.  Some meat buyers of certain cultures or religions prefer unblemished animals, meaning those that have not been altered in any way; they want full tails, and testicles, on the animals they raise, and/or buy.

We, at Kaleidscope Acres, do not dock our lambs tails, hair sheep not need this done, and we have never had problems with the wool sheep having natural tails either. 

The reasons for tail docking are so the fleece can be cut easier, and will be cleaner, as well there is less of a risk of fly strike.  Castrating sheep is done to make a ram into a wether, a sterile male sheep.

Tail docking, and castration, are often done to lambs, along with being vaccinated, around 3-5 days of age. 

In both cases there are a range of tools that can be used, one of which is the Elastrator, shown below.  The tool is opened to stretch out a small (special) rubber band.  Either the tail, or scrotum and testicles, are pulled through the elastic and it is released, pinching off the blood supply to that part of the body - which will fall off in a week or two. 

photo source

There are a few risks, one being tetanus, the other being if the rubber band is not placed correctly - if the tail is made too short the sheep could have problems (rectal prolapse being one).  If the testicles are not down into the scrotum they could be missed.

If asked about cruelty, I would have to say the proceedures are cruel, they may be necessary, but are still cruel.  The lambs do feel pain, if even for a short time.  Tail docking is not necessary in hair sheep, and even those which are hair sheep crosses, as the tails are often shorter than usual, and less wooly.  I would say that there are other methods of tail docking, and I do feel the elastrator is the least cruel method.

Related Sheep Links

Tail Docking in Sheep

What is a Wether?

Advantages of Hair Sheep

Fly Strike