Flock of sheep

Brand Letter of Intent

Fashion brands are moving away from mulesed sheep wool and call for a more ethical live cut lambs (mulesed wool) industry

9/30/2024

The present "Brand Letter of Intent" is another strong signal to the Australian wool industry and global wool supply chains, that live lamb cutting (also known as mulesing) must become a thing of the past. Brands who sign the letter do not want wool from lamb cutting and they are either already certified lamb cutting-free or intend to be by 2030.

The letter directly calls on the Australian wool industry to enable that shift away from any type of lamb cutting (mulesing). The growing anti live lamb cutting movement demonstrates that the demand for wool free from lamb cutting exists and will increase in the coming years. In the interests of both the animals and the Australian wool industry, it’s time to make a plan to transition away from lamb cutting.

ACLER

adidas

Aje

alchemist

Aldi Nord

ALDI SÜD

America Today

Anna Field

ARMEDANGELS

ba&sh

Bergans

Bershka

Bestseller

BRAX

Breuninger

CALIDA

C&A

camel active

Closed

Esprit

ETP

Even&Odd

Friboo

GLOW

H&M Group

Hess Natur

HUGO BOSS

Icebreaker

Inditex

Jack Wolfskin

JOSLIN

Kathmandu

Kings Of Indigo

Lilleman

LÖFFLER

MANGO

MAMMUT

Marc Cain

Marc O'Polo

Marks & Spencer

Massimo Dutti

Merz b. Schwanen

Mini Rodini

MISSEGLE

MISSGUIDED

MTM

MUSTANG

Nanka Creative

NEXT

NKD

Noyoco

The North Face

Thought Clothing

ODLO

ORTOVOX

Otto Group

Oysho

patagonia

People Tree

Pier One

Primark

PROFUOMO

Pull & Bear

PUMA

Reformation

River Island

SALEWA

Shushulka

Sissy-Boy

Smartwool

SCROC

s.Oliver

Stradivarius

Tchibo

The Wool Company

Tom Tailor

VF Corporation

Waschbär

WE

Wolf & Badger

Yan Tan

YAYA

you look perfect

Yourturn

Zalando

Zara

Zara Home

ZIGN

Ziener

How to get involved as a brand?

Download the attached "Brand Letter of Intent" and support the cause!

By signing it yourself (or the CEO/CSR Manager/Sustainability officer in your company) you are showing the Australian wool industry and your supply chain that:

your company already sources certified non-mulesed wool or
that your company intends to source only verified non-mulesed wool by 2030

Brand Letter of Intent

Click, download, and sign!

If you want to be part of the progressive anti-mulesing movement, send your signed letter to textiles@four-paws.org and amplify the united voice against mulesing.

In case you have any questions regarding this initiative, please feel free to contact us.

What brands have to say

"At ba&sh, animal welfare is close to our hearts. We have zero tolerance for mulesing and strictly ban this practice in our supply chains. We aim to achieve 100% certified wool to the most robust animal welfare standards by 2025 date. At ba&sh, we are committed to safeguard the welfare of animals within our wool supply chains, and will continue to engage with FOUR PAWS to seek opportunities for further welfare advancements."

Julie Hamadouche, Sustainability Manager at ba&sh (France)

"Wool is an important and valuable material for Waschbär as a supplier of natural textiles, but this must not be at the expense of animal welfare. We have therefore taken a first important step by banning wool of Australian origin from our range in order to significantly reduce the risk of mulesing. We are now in the process of implementing the second step: Together with our supplier partners, we are working to gradually increase the share of certified organic wool and wool with the Responsible Wool Standard.”

Barbara Engel, Head of Sustainability at Waschbär GmbH (Germany)

“ARMEDANGELS has zero tolerance for mulesing and we only use certified (GOTS + RWS) mulesing-free organic virgin wool in our products and mainly source it from Argentina. The way we work with animals and prioritise their well-being says everything about their ethical importance to us and we strongly believe that joint efforts are the only way to really push for change.”

Manar Samaki, Supply Chain Director at ARMEDANGELS

“Icebreaker was founded on ensuring respect for our fibre all the way through the value chain, from sheep to shirt. We were one of the first brands to exclusively use wool from non-mulesed sheep. It’s important to the consumer, but even more importantly it’s important for the animal. Consumers are more conscious than ever and we feel it is our responsibility to drive awareness and demand for ethically-sourced product.”

Meredith Dawson Lawry, Global Materials & Sustainability Manager at Icebreaker (New Zealand)

“As a responsible retailer animal welfare is important to us and the use of Mulesing has for many years been highlighted as a particularly traumatic procedure. We cannot condone the use of Mulesing, especially when there are other methods of controlling fly infestations, and are therefore happy to sign this letter showing our support in the phasing out of this procedure.”

Paul Smith, Head of Sourcing & Product Technology at MISSGUIDED (UK)

“When the issue of mulesing became known about six years ago, we reacted very quickly and contractually banned this practice and excluded Australia as a country of origin. We then joined forces with other stakeholders to establish a standard that could ensure animal welfare throughout the entire supply chain. Today we source the often-affected merino wool only certified to the Responsible Wool Standard, which excludes mulesing. In the future, we want to offer all wool types only as sustainable and certified quality.”

Nanda Bergstein, Director Corporate Responsibility at Tchibo GmbH (Germany)

“Mulesing is outdated and unnecessary. We appreciate the high value of ethically sourced wool and are committed to being part of positive change.”

Adrian Huber, Head of Corporate Responsibility at MAMMUT (Switzerland)

Flock of sheep