Nine more major US retailers, including Gap Inc., Liz Claiborne, Lands’ End, L.L. Bean, Eddie Bauer, Jones Apparel Group and Ann Taylor, with combined annual sales totalling more than US$25 billion, have sent a letter to Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) and the Australian Sheep and Wool Industry Taskforce, urging them to embrace the agreement reached between PETA and the Australian Wool Growers Association (AWGA).
The letter was sent through the global retailer organization Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). Last week, Talbot’s, Nordstrom and H&M also pledged support for the agreement.
The plan devised by PETA and the AWGA – which provides a timetable for phasing out mulesing and would end exports of live sheep to countries that don’t meet Australian welfare standards – establishes a new, more humane wool brand that will be available to these and other retailers internationally.
In the letter countersigned by the retailers, BSR Director Debbie O’Brien commends the AWGA for taking a "positive step forward" and urges the Australian Sheep and Wool Industry Taskforce and other wool-industry groups to "take into serious consideration the components of the recent announcement, and our collective support for it".
The letter is more evidence of growing support among retailers for a concrete plan to phase out mulesing and live export.
PETA and AWGA are hopeful that positive feedback from retailers will sway AWI and the taskforce, whichhave reacted to the compromise plan with knee-jerk animosity and a rash of unfounded claims – which PETA refutes on its website SaveTheSheep.com.
"Wool growers who want to move forward should join the AWGA as more and more retailers pledge support for the new brand and agreement", says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk.
"The position of the Australian Sheep and Wool Industry Taskforce is increasingly looking like a case of sour grapes. If this keeps up, we suspect they won’t be able to give their wool away."