The Japanese apparel brand Uniqlo has joined high profile retailers including names such as C&A, Topshop, H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hugo Boss and Gap in pledging to phase out the use of mulesed wool. The brand has directed its suppliers to discontinue procuring wool from farms that mules their sheep. The declaration came after a series of international campaigns by PETA, to blacklist the controversial surgical operation that involves cutting away flaps of flesh from a merino sheep’s breech and tail to prevent a parasitic infection known as flystrike.
Though some people in the industry believe the surgery is important for hygiene reasons and is not painful in the long run, there also have been skeptical views to adapt other measures to avoid the parasitic infection, considering the cost involved in the process for the size of the industry that exists. Despite, two-sided views about the process, Uniqlo has supported PETA’s decision to put an end to the exercise to prevent flystrike, and support more humane methods, sending across the message that cruelty to animals is not fashionable.
