Animal Cruelty?

[kuan]

You decide:

Shearing banned at county show because animal welfare activists say clippers harm the sheep | the Daily Mail

[Anneke]

"I have never in my life heard of such a thing. What sort of message does this send? Are we now supposed to not shear flocks and let their coats grow out of control?"

Ah, the visual...

Forget the sheep, let's clip the protesters..

[OregonYeti]

How ridiculous imo. I've heard (but don't know personally) that sheep like being sheared.

[tessa]

Originally Posted by OregonYeti

How ridiculous imo. I've heard (but don't know personally) that sheep like being sheared.

especially by the aussies :rolle yes: sorry aussies i just couldnt resist
but seriously how pathetic, some people are just so weird and fanatical and terribly PC. We watched sheep being shorn in a competition at the easter show and it was so exciting to watch and the sheep wernt protesting

[DMT]

Aye, they look so much sexier when they've had a proper coiffure...

[MuskyHopeful]

I know I like my lamb sheared before cooking. I find the smell of burning wool is offputting.

Kevin

[hwood]

As is so often the case, the people "protecting" the animals didn't bother to learn anything about the animal's needs. I had a sheep farm for many years, and while I'm not convinced that being sheared is any fun for the sheep, it doesn't hurt them if done properly. If not done, it can be disastrous. I was once called to help with two pet sheep who had been left unsheared for two years out of "kindness". Because of the huge overgrowth of wool, they had become waterlogged in a sudden sleetstorm and were lying on the ground unable to get up and get back to the barn. We had to carry them back to the barn because they were too weak to walk. We then partially sheared them so that we could assess thier condition, and found that they were so emaciated from parasitic infections that they could hardly move. . The owner had no idea that the sheep were ill and thought that they were "fat and happy" because of the 6" of wool sticking out all around. They were later removed from the owner's care by the ASPCA. It is up to us to know what care domestic animals need and see that they get it, and it's highly irresponsible to start trying to "protect" an animal before you know anything about its basic needs.

[Ninja_59]

Whats next

[tchef]

I was going to reply to this rather great topic "but I feel Jim may pull the wool over my eyes and give me another "Jumper"


Regards

Hey one nice THREAD, love it

[OahuAmateurChef]

When people ignore the fact that other people on the planet are starving to death, and instead give their attention to stupid sheep that may experience discomfort...

I'm sure there's a smiley that pertains to this kind of asinine behavior.

Sigh.

[Pete]

My brother used to help raise and race sled dogs. He heard this kind of stuff all the time. People only gather part of the information and only see what they want to see. People need to gather all the info before making a decision on what is cruel to animals or not!

[deltadoc]

Speaking of cruelty to animals, how about cutting down so much of the rain forests, extinction of 100's of species, global warming, the plight of the polar bears, the plight of the penguins that can't get enough out of the Antartic ocean to survive, the loss of the coral reefs, acid rain, people who cut animals heads off and stuff them and hang them on their walls (like my neighbor)...the list goes on and on.

doc

[Free Rider]

I've sheared sheep. One has to be careful because the shears can nick the sheep, just like a razor can nick a man while shaving his chin. You also, to get the best angles on the shear, need to sit the sheep on her bum. I don't know if sheep like to sit like that, but it's the best way to get it done and you rest her back against your legs. If you're good, it's done within a couple of minutes.

[DC Sunshine]

"If you bring speed into it, you may sacrifice care and quality and we would have genuine concerns."

What are these people thinking? And that's from the RSPCA representative. Do they really think that sheep are shorn in a leisurely fashion? No farm could afford a slow shearer -good grief!

And as Hwood says - its crueler NOT to do it. Let them all get fly blown - great plan. AND, why is it that the animal activistdidn't want to be named???? If you're going to make statements, have the courage to stand by your convictions and put your name to it.

On a lighter note - what do you get when you cross a kangaroo with a sheep?
A: a woolly jumper .

[Blagueur]

I can understand the concern.

Damage to the sheep is sustained during normal shearing by a trained professional. Sheep also can, and often do, die after shearing. This is usually the case concerning flocks that aren't used to human contact such as those reared on a station. A person not properly educated in the use of the electrical shear can also inflict much damage on an animal and given that shearing is done in a shed with one bloke in the ring, a public display can be absolutely terrifying.

As someone who has lived in a farming situation, I can honestly tell you that the the shearing process is not the picnic that is often portrayed. The process involves sheep being driven by humans using motor vehicles or dogs from distant paddocks to a shearing shed which, essentially, is tin on concrete under a very hot and relentless sun. They are held in close confinement, often for many hours without food or water and in temperatures exceeding 40 celsius/110 farenheit, until in turn they are caught, turned on their arses and dragged to the shearing board.

People not used to seeing this, particularly those not from a country background, would find this frightening. So I can understand that.
What I find unpalatable is that it would appear that nobody from the farming fraternity has been contacted by these scared people, preferring instead to act alone on their ill conceived ideas and then don't want to be named.

I'm glad people are acting on animal rights. This in itself is hopeful. But it's a shame that two groups who obviously don't understand each other haven't communicated which means that city folk are missing out on a chance for some important education and more serious issues such as mulesing aren't being addressed.