Meat industry
Sheep who are bred for their wool are also slaughtered for their meat, so are often defined as ‘dual-purpose’. Some of the wool we wear comes from 6-9 month old lambs shorn before they are slaughtered, others from ‘cast for age’ sheep, no longer profiting the wool industry.
Please note, this section contains graphic images and may be confronting.
‘Dual-purpose’
Sheep who are bred for their wool are also used for their meat, often defined as ‘dual-purpose’ for this reason. Some breeds and cross-breeds are ‘favoured’ for meat production, but even merinos, who are known as ‘wool sheep’ are considered ‘wool and meat’ sheep.
Most sheep meat in Australia is lamb meat, considered of a ‘higher quality’. Lambs are slaughtered between 6-9 months of age for this purpose, and are often shorn of their wool before slaughter.
Opposite is an excerpt of an industry fact sheet.
‘Cast for age’
Merinos, sheep that produce the ‘highest quality’ wool, are generally farmed for 5-6 years when deemed worthy for wool-growing.
After this age, a sheep’s wool degrades in quality, just as human hair gets more brittle and thin as we age. When this happens, a sheep is no longer financially viable, and so is slaughtered.
Naturally, sheep can live to be up to 14 years old.
Opposite is Prince, a rescued merino sheep who lived at Liberation Sanctuary from ‘lambhood’ until he passed peacefully at 10 years old. Other sheep here, like Split, continue living at 14 years old this year.
In the abattoir
In standard Australian abattoirs, sheep must be stunned, most often by shooting an electrical current through the brains, or with a captive-bolt gun. Following stunning, sheep are slaughtered by having their throats cut open.
Stunning is not always at all or entirely effective, and never renders an animal permanently unconscious. Animals can regain consciousness within minutes, and be conscious during slaughter.
Every year in Australia, 30 million lambs and sheep are slaughtered. No animal walks willingly into a slaughterhouse, and most of their final moments are full of adrenalin, fear and terror.
Still from Leaked Australia footage from an abattoir in Victoria, Australia.
Live export
When sheep are no longer financially viable for their wool, the wool industry makes hundreds of millions of dollars in profit by selling them to the live export industry for slaughter.
In 2018, 973,651 sheep were exported live from Australia to be slaughtered overseas. 5,982 of those sheep died on their way there.
Undercover investigations of Australian live export ships have been shown to be overcrowded, with sheep often unable to move or access food and water. Sheep on the long voyages have been documented lying stuck in a ‘soup’ of weeks worth of urine and faeces, and even being cooked alive in the heat.
A still from an Animals Australia investigation into live export.
References
All sheep who are bred for their wool are also used for their meat, often defined as ‘dual-purpose’ for this reason
Learn About Wool by Australian Wool Innovation & The Woolmark Company
Most sheep meat in Australia is lamb meat, considered of a ‘higher quality’
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Lambs are slaughtered between 6-9 months of age…
Aussie Abattoirs, RSPCA (p24)
…and are often shorn of their wool before slaughter
Meat and Livestock Australia 1 and 2
‘Wool sheep’ are considered ‘cast for age’ and slaughtered at 5-6 years old
RSPCA (p24), Meat and Livestock Australia (p5), Australian Wool Testing Authority
Naturally, sheep can live to be up to 14 years old
Aussie Abattoirs
In standard Australian abattoirs, sheep must be stunned, electrically or with a captive-bolt gun
CSIRO (p9)
Stunning is not always at all or entirely effective, and never renders an animal permanently unconscious
Faunalytics, Meat Science, Meat and Livestock Australia & Live Corp
Every year in Australia, 30 million lambs and sheep are slaughtered
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The wool industry profits hundreds of millions of dollars from the live export industry
RSPCA (p24), Centre for International Economics (prepared for AWI)
In 2018, 973,651 sheep were exported live from Australia to be slaughtered overseas. 5,982 of those sheep died on their way there
Australian Government Department of Agriculture
Undercover investigations into live export have found…
Animals Australia