Attendees of the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) conference last week were told to expect a large PETA presence opposed to the use of wool in fashion, but only one protestor showed up in Paris.

The protestor held up a sign that read “Australia Stop Mulesing Now,” gave a two-minute speech, and left peaceably.

The response to the one-woman protest was mixed, according to the Rural Press. Conference-goers felt the small showing meant anti-mulesing efforts are losing traction, but PETA insists that is not the case.

[W]hen Rural Press contacted PETA and asked if they felt they were losing support for their campaign against surgical mulesing, Ashley Fruno, Senior Campaigner PETA Asia-Pacific, denied it was.

Instead, Mr Fruno insisted that its protest in Paris was “very successful.”

“The activists didn’t expect to get in, but we were thrilled that they were able to and give such a long speech, as well as speak to many people afterwards,” Mr Fruno said.

Catch up on the mulesing debate here.

The sheep mulesing debate has been quietly raging on for ten years, and today a conglomeration of retailers including Macy’s, Nordstrom, Ann Taylor, and the Gap have signed a letter urging Australian wool farmers to come to a compromise with animal-rights groups pronto.

The letter reads:

“American retailers and brands take corporate social responsibility and ethical sourcing matters very seriously,” the letter states.

“At the same time, we understand that mulesing is a complex issue, and that finding an alternative would require a reasonable period of time to address.

“Thus, [Australian Wool Innovation's] decision to abandon the declaration and its internal problems this late in the game has left us in a very difficult position.

“Our companies cannot afford to put our credibility and brands at risk over disagreements regarding the propriety and effectiveness of particular animal-husbandry techniques, particularly at a time when apparel made from competing fabrics is on the rise in the US market.”

For a refresher on mulesing, check out our archives.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has for years been behind a retailer boycott of Australian wool, charging that the practice of mulesing is inhumane. (Which, as we’ve written before, is far from a settled matter.)

But now, the activist group is taking it a step further and alleging that all wool is unethical and should not be bought:

In its latest campaign, “Have a heart: don’t buy wool”, PETA claims “sheep and other animals used for their wool are turned into living yarn factories and are denied everything that is natural and important to them”.

The online campaign encourages buyers to instead seek out cotton, polyester or synthetic fabrics.

This is seemingly at odds with other campaigns that champion the sustainable benefits of wool (like the one spearheaded by Prince Charles). Moreover, polyester and certain other synthetic fabrics have a whole host of ethical problems associated with their manufacturing and biodegradability.

So where do you stand, E.S. readers? Do you wear wool? How about polyester?

Australian wool producers and international retail federations are locked in a battle over ethical standards for merino wool.

The debate centers on a procedure called mulesing, in which farmers remove a flap of skin on a lamb’s rump to prevent parasites from laying eggs in the skin folds. In recent years, many retailers began boycotting wool from farms that use the technique, arguing that it is inhumane to perform surgery on lambs without anesthesia. Facing growing pressure, wool producers eventually agreed to stop the practice by 2010.

However, with that deadline fast approaching, sheep farmers have backtracked on the agreement — and retailers aren’t holding them to it:

Australian Wool Innovation says overseas retailers have committed to buying Australian wool, despite the industry failing to honour a deal to stop mulesing next year.

The industry had agreed to find an alterative to surgical mulesing by 2010, after a series of animal welfare campaign and boycotts by retailers.

An AWI delegation has just returned from meeting retailers in the US, Europe and the UK to explain why that deadline won’t be met.

AWI chief executive Brenda McGahan says some retailers were unhappy, but most accepted the explanation.

“It’s one thing to not be happy about a message or a change in a policy, and it’s another to say they are not happy about our wool”, she says.

The news is a blow to the animal-rights groups that have been fighting for an end to mulesing. Yet we can’t help but wonder whether all this dithering over mulesing is missing the forest for the trees. If mulesing saves the sheep from a lifetime of agony from flystrike, wouldn’t it make more sense to pursue a more humane way of conducting the surgical procedure than to protest it?

If you have an opinion on this issue, please share it in the comments section!

Liz Claiborne has announced that the brand will no longer use Australian merino wool due to concerns about mulesing, a practice that shears skin from a sheep’s rump to prevent parasites from laying eggs in the skin folds.

The news is a win for animal-rights groups like PETA that protest the practice. However, as we’ve written before, the problem remains about how to protect sheep from blowfly infestation, which can lead to pain and the eventual death of the animals.

It seemed that a new method was gaining traction to use clips to straighten the skin and make it difficult for the parasites to lay eggs. But Nike, Gap, and other major retailers have frustrated that solution as well.

Since merino wool is some of the finest in the world, we’ll try to continue reporting on this issue as it develops.

Australian Wool Innovation Ltd. revealed a new $100-million marketing campaign yesterday that will promote Australian merino wool as a green luxury product.

The wool, which is known for its superior softness, is often used by major retailers that include Lacoste, Marks & Spencer, Benetton, Brooks Brothers, and Dillard’s.

However, use of the fiber has been condemned by animal-rights groups that want wool farmers to stop mulesing their animals. Mulesed lambs undergo a surgical procedure to remove excess skin around the tail to prevent parasitic flies from laying eggs in the skin folds. Blowfly infestation can cause pain and eventual death for the sheep, but the practice has been criticized as an unnecessary ordeal for the animals.

Craig Welsh, AWI’s chief executive officer, says the new campaign is not in response to the criticism, but because consumers are asking for ethical options in luxury clothing:

“The marketing campaign is developed on consumer demand and doesn’t really take into consideration anything that animal rights activists want,” Welsh said. “The industry itself made the commitment to phase out mulesing by 2010. If you look at Australia this year, over 30 percent of sheep will not be mulesed. And that will gather momentum onto 2010 and continue to go forward after that.”

The United States will likely be the main focus of the marketing efforts, which will emphasize wool’s natural, biodegradeable, and sustainable properties.