Federal agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce has labelled a new video created by animal welfare group PETA as false and misleading.
The video attacks the wool industry, claiming sheep are often abused and mistreated by shearers.
Rock band guitarist and vegan campaigner Jona Weinhofen, is the main feature of the video and is depicted holding what seems to be a bloodied lamb.
“Mr Weinhofen has turned up with a prop and basically said it was a sheep and completely disparaged the whole of the shearing industry. An industry which is our third largest rural export worth about $2.8 billion a year.”
Mr Joyce says a number of shearers have voiced their concerns about the misleading content of the video.
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Unfortunately this is not false, the video footage is very real.
The PETA footage from the Australian wool industry shows workers violently punching scared sheep in the face, stamping and standing on the animals’ heads and necks and beating them in the face with electric clippers and a hammer.
Even Liberal party members in Victoria believe it is real. They have even called for compulsory drug testing of shearers as they admit abuse from drug-using shearers against sheep is a massive problem. One shearer reportedly broke the legs of 14 sheep in a two-day period.
This is disgraceful! Let’s stop debating and address the real issue, ending all cruelty to sheep in the wool industry!