by Jennifer Greenbaum

About the author: Jennifer Greenbaum is a freelance writer and animal rights activist.

Woven into socks, sweaters, and blankets, wool fiber has all the strength, warmth, and softness that once grew on a sheep. So pleasant are the associations we have with wool that it is rarely thought of as anything other than store- bought comfort, or something “borrowed” from a sheep through a friendly haircut. But a closer look at the shearing to shipping experience reveals an unpleasant reality.

Long a part of human history, the domesticated sheep has endured centuries of careful breeding for optimum wool production, quality of carcass, hardiness in harsh weather, and prolificacy in ewes. And the cost has been the animals’ health. Merinos, bred in Australia, are a particularly egregious example of the problems...