SAWAMBA DECLARATION – MULESING

TO ALL PRODUCERS OF WOOL. As most producers are aware, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has made mulesing of sheep in Australia an international issue with top fashion brands such as Hugo Boss, Marks and Spencer, etc., declaring that they will only buy mules free wool. We, as the buyers of the South African clip, have been led to believe that less than 1% of ALL wool produced in South Africa comes from mulesed sheep. The brokers, NWGA and Cape Wools have advertised the fact that there will be declarations on each catalogue stating whether a declaration has been signed by the producer that the wool comes from mules free sheep. We, as the buyers and marketers of the South African wool clip, appeal to ALL the producers in South Africa to sign the declarations about mulesing.

SAWAMBA would like to state the following regarding non-declaration and mulesed sheep: 1. From Catalogue 6, we are requesting the brokers to put all non-declared wool and mulesed wool at the end of each broker's catalogue. 2. The majority of buying houses will not be bidding on mulesed wool. 3. There will be a definite lack of competition on wools that are mules free but have not been declared so. 4. According to the NWGA, Mulesing is in contravention of the "Animal Protection Act no. 71 of 1962". The practice of mulesing is cruel and causes pain and stress to the animal and is deemed an unnecessary practice. Any person using this practice will be prosecuted under the abovementioned Act. 5. By some producers not declaring their clip mules free, this gives the international community the impression that whilst we are largely mules free, a large percentage of farmers do still mules. 6. We need to use every opportunity possible to market the South African clip and to introduce it into new markets and having a 100% mules free tag helps. We appeal to all producers, be pro-active and help us market your wool as an environmentally, eco-friendly product to ensure that we have steady reliable markets for your wool.