The  World Health Organisation report on the Access to Controlled Medications Program estimates that access to controlled medicines for pain relief is non existent or close to non existent in 150 out of 193 countries around the world.  The same report estimates that 75,000 women die in childbirth every year due to a lack of pain relief.  Other sources estimate that 80% of the world’s population do not have access to adequate pain relief.

Pain relief is not necessary in the mulesing process Mr McCowen said.  Mulesing is not cruel and has been carried out successfully by generations of farmers for many years.  It is simply immoral to propose that pain relief should be applied unnecessarily to animals when the vast majority of the world’s people do not have access to it.  The only circumstances where pain relief on animals can be justified are where improvements in productivity lead to gains in food or fibre production efficiency Mr McCowen said, those gains are yet to be demonstrated.

Mr McCowen added that the PETA campaign against the wool industry was effectively in tatters with the recent announcement by American and European retailers that they would continue to use Australian wool beyond 2010 regardless of the industries ability to phase out mulesing.  Retailers were happy with the progress being made to phase out mulesing.  Breeding sheep that do not need mulesing was the best alternative for the industry in the long term Mr McCowen said.

Efficiency1st has been running a campaign assisting consumers to encourage retailers to use more Australian wool.  Those consumers who took part in the campaign discovered that wool retailers had never agreed to stop using Australian wool Mr McCowen said.  The PETA claims of success were a complete beat up.

Mr McCowen concluded that the Australian wool industry was one of the most sustainable and environmentally responsible industries in the world, “ every Australian wool producer can be justifiably proud of their contribution to the comfort of thousands of consumers around the world with long lasting, sustainably produced and environmentally friendly wool products”.

There is a 64 million Kilogram question for PETA to face up to!

 Efficiency1st has called on PETA to discontinue their campaign against the Australian wool industry in light of the fact that Australian wool producers are sequestering in excess of 64,000,000 (million) kilograms of carbon annually as they care for and sustain their sheep flocks.  It is well established that wool is composed of approximately 20% carbon.  It is also well established that Australian sheep produce on average a little more than four kilograms of wool per year Efficiency1st spokesman Mr McCowen said.  With an Australian sheep flock of approximately 80 million sheep that adds up to more than 64 million kilograms annually of carbon sequestration. 

Wool is a unique product in that it lasts for a very long time in the market place, firstly it is long wearing and comfortable, but more importantly wool has the capacity to be remanufactured once its original use has come to an end, this process greatly increases the wool lifecycle and adds considerably to the carbon sequestration cycle for wool products.  This is in stark contrast to petroleum based synthetics.   

“PETA have to explain why they are seeking to increase the problem of climate change by attacking the wool industry” Mr McCowen said.   Wool is easily one of the most sustainable fibre products and has a considerable role in future carbon sequestration.

64 million kilograms of carbon sequestered every year in an industry that provides comfort to the cold as well as producing some of the most wearable and beautiful modern fashion garments of our time.  “Every Australian wool grower sits at the cutting edge of the fight against climate change, why would PETA want to hinder wool growers in that fight” Mr McCowen said.

Mr McCowen also called on consumers throughout the world to increase their consumption of Australian wool products.  There is simply no better product in terms of comfort, functionality or sustainability Mr McCowen said.  Australian wool producers have been increasing wool production efficiency and decreasing chemical use for decades, Mr McCowen said.  Now we can also be confident that the planet will be better off each time we pull on our favourite woollen product made from planet saving Australian wool.

Thanks to farmnet for assisting in kicking off Efficiency1st.

Here is a direct link to the dedicated Efficiency1st homepage

Most of the major challenges facing the world today are easily solvable if we simply put aside emotional and unsubstantiated media hype.  We need to combine genuine science and practical sense in order to design and implement positive, balanced and sustainable solutions to the challenges of today and tomorrow.

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Tread softly - Feed the World