Nordstrom Gives Buying Preference to Farmers Who Don’t Mutilate Lambs

April 2005

Nordstrom officials were so horrified by the cruel treatment of Australian lambs, who are partially skinned alive – without painkillers – during a procedure called mulesing, and sheep, who are forced to endure weeks – or even months – of suffering aboard “death ships” bound for slaughter in the Middle East, where animal welfare regulations are non-existent, that the company has started to push the Australian wool industry to take animal welfare seriously. After meeting with PETA representatives about the issues, Nordstrom issued a statement saying that the group “will give purchasing preference to suppliers that can provide us with guaranteed non-mulesed wool, with the intention of using only non-mulesed wool for our products. By the end of 2005, we will have a committed timeline to achieve that goal.”