Zalando joins Four Paws in call to stop mulesing in wool industry

Animal welfare organisation Four Paws has announced that e-commerce retailer Zalando has signed a ‘Brand Letter of Intent’ which will see it commit to transitioning toward 100 percent certified mulesing-free wool within their own brands by 2023.

Mulesing, which involves the mutilation of lambs, is only practised in Australia and is often a result of the creation of Merino wool. According to the organisation, as much as 80 percent of the Merino wool used in the fashion industry comes from Australia.

Zalando joins 45 other brands, including Adidas, Hugo Boss and H&M, in expressing an intention to exclusively source certified mulesing-free wool, said Four Paws in an open letter to the Australian wool industry.

By mobilising brands, the nonprofit’s goal is to put economic pressure on the region’s industry to end mulesing and highlight the growing resistance from brands in using this method.

Rebecca Picallo Gil, of the Four Paws wool campaign, said in a statement that it was a “huge success” to get Zalando involved in the initiative, which the organisation has been campaigning for over many years.

“It shows that our commitment against mulesing has now also reached the big brands and retailers. The Australian wool industry can no longer ignore this. It must finally put an end to this outdated and extremely painful procedure for Merino lambs and transition towards pain-free alternatives,” Picallo Gil added.

Four Paws has now turned its attention to Nike, which it said has not yet committed to phasing out the use of mulesed wool in its products.