Australian model Stefania Ferrario has stripped bare in a new advertisement for PETA, encouraging Aussies to 'leave wool behind.'
Known for her animal activism and vegan lifestyle, Ferrario has teamed up with PETA to tell people, "Ewe can do better! Wear vegan."
In an accompanying video posted to her Instagram, which boasts 1.1 million followers, Ferrario discusses some shocking practices uncovered by PETA in parts of the shearing industry.
"Workers are being paid for the volume of wool they’re producing, so when they’re shearing the sheep, they’re going really fast," Ferrario said.
"The sheep can end up having horrific gashes, bleeding, and then they’ll sew the sheep up without any anaesthetic," she said.
In other investigations conducted by PETA, the organisation said it found instances of cruelty on Australian shearing properties, including an incident where a shearer cut into a heavily pregnant sheep’s vaginal prolapse and used her wool to wipe her blood off the floor.
PETA states that when an investigator took her to a veterinarian, they discovered that she had been trying to deliver a lamb, who was stillborn, and the mother had to be euthanised.
Ferrario joins a long list of celebrities – including Alicia Silverstone, Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood, and Joaquin Phoenix – who have teamed up with PETA or its international affiliates to speak out against the wool industry.
The new ad is currently rolling out across digital and print channels, and is set to appear in some out-of-home settings in Sydney and New York.