Pop star Pink annoyed Australian government by joining a global campaign against Australia’s wool industry. Pink has joined with US animal rights activists in calling for consumers worldwide to boycott products made with Australian wool.
American singer Pink used her recent Paris concert to protest the controversial practice of mulesing. Mulesing is illegal in Britain but this is a common practice in Australia.
Australia is one of the world’s top wool exporters and the success of the campaign will lead to devastating impact on the Australian wool industry.
Pink insisted not to buy products labeled ‘merino wool’ or ‘made in Australia.’ The four-minute video which shows the torture merino sheep undergo in the Australian wool industry was released around the world today by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and shows Pink saying,
I am calling on consumers to check labels on sweaters before buying them, and if they’re merino wool or made in Australia, to leave them on the racks. If you’re like most people, you already refuse to wear fur because of the obvious cruelty involved, and, like me, you may even look for the stylish alternatives to leather, but what about wool.
But Treasurer Peter Costello, said, ‘I don’t know if Pink is an expert on the sheep industry. You know, Pink is entitled to her views but at the end of the day would Australia’s farmers take advice from Pink?’
Costello said mulesing, which involves cutting skin away from a sheep’s backside, was a better option than a sheep dying from fly-strike. He stated,
Sheep are at risk of being fly-blown and dying … it’s not a pretty sight. Mulesing is not a pretty sight either but it’s a damn sight more humane than letting a sheep die fly blown in a paddock.
Pink, real name declared to campaign against mulesing when she visited Australia on tour in April. Besides Pink, Razorlight, Fall Out Boy and Goldfrapp are also associated with PETA.
