NATIONAL: Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) all but upstaged the launch of an industry award aimed at promoting Australian brand Woolmark over the weekend. The protest was staged outside the launch of a new $400, 000 Woolmark prize aimed at recognising an emerging designer who uses Australian merino wool.
Members of the group reportedly waved posters depicting lambs with bloodied backsides in protest against the practice of mulesing sheep, where skin is stripped from the backside to reduce the chance of death by blowfly strike.
This was not enough to dampen the spirits of emerging Chinese designer Qiu Hao, who took out the international Woolmark prize. The 30-year-old designer, a graduate in interior design at Suzhou University and a Central Saint Martin's College (London) alumnus, was recognised for his use of strong tailored cuts and a muted colour palette.
PETA vice president Bruce Friedrich said the wool industry could do more before the 2010 deadline to phase out mulesing and warned more protests would ensue.
"I know taking the equivalent of garden shears and slicing therear ends off of living animals, they feel that pain in exactly the same way you would feel that pain or I would feel that pain and it's not acceptable."