PETA to Talbots Execs: Stop Buying Cruelly Produced Australian Wool

At Annual Meeting, Group Will Grill Executives Over the Company's Use of Wool From Lambs Who Have Been Mutilated by Farmers

For Immediate Release:
May 19, 2010
 
Contact:
Stephanie Corrigan  757-622-7382

Hingham, Mass. -- A representative of PETA, which owns stock in Talbots, will question company executives at the retailer's annual meeting in Hingham on Thursday. PETA wants to know when Talbots will follow the lead of many of the retailer's top competitors and stop buying cruelly produced Australian wool. Currently, Talbots buys wool from Australian farmers who mutilate lambs in a procedure called "mulesing." Talbots operates approximately 585 stores in the U.S. and Canada and has annual revenues of $1.5 billion:

When:     Thursday, May 20, 9 a.m.
Where:    Hingham Town Hall, 210 Central St., Hingham
 
"Talbots considers itself to be a retail leader, but when it comes to protecting lambs from gruesome mutilations, the company is lagging behind," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "When consumers learn that Talbots is supporting animal abuse, they will likely buy their sweaters and skirts from one of the many retailers that have pledged not to make money off the suffering of lambs."
 
Most Australian wool comes from lambs who have undergone mulesing, a crude mutilation in which farmers cut chunks of flesh from lambs' backsides with shears in a misguided attempt to reduce a maggot infestation called "flystrike." Humane and effective methods of flystrike prevention--such as using better husbandry practices or breeding sheep who are not susceptible to the condition--exist, but they are not used widely enough. In response to PETA pressure, the trade group Australian Wool Innovation agreed to phase out mulesing by 2010. But in July 2009, the organization announced that it was abandoning that commitment.
 
Many retailers--including Abercrombie & Fitch, Dress Barn, H&M, HUGO BOSS, Liz Claiborne, Perry Ellis International, and Timberland--have pledged not to use wool from mulesed lambs.
 
For more information, please visit PETA.org.