CW: Mention of animal abuse
Im sure you’ve heard of the quite popular Australian boot company called “UGG.” They’ve been around for a pretty long time and continue to be a frequent purchase made by many people during the cold, winter months. Over the recent years, the company was inspected and questioned about their inhumane behavior towards the sheep and lambs which are severely harmed in the process of making your boots.
UGGs are designed with shearling and fleece, which in order to obtain, requires an animal to get hurt in some kind of method. Oftentimes, sheep are given no pain medicine while their tails are cut off, and may eventually get killed. Take in the fact that these sheep’s lives are just for our consumerist market—wool, death, repeat. The sheep are frequently kept in tight and compact pens and not given much of a life at all. And keep in mind this is done in large numbers—by the millions, in fact. According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), it is considered “normal” in the Australian wool industry for approximately three million young lambs to die each spring in order to supply the materials for clothing production. This is horribly awful and is another reason to be aware of the product you are purchasing and the company that’s gaining the profit. This is not something anyone should support no matter the desire to wear these trendy and popularized shoes. While a lot of us love fall, including myself, that doesn’t mean you need to wear UGGs. It is valuable to research the item you choose to buy and care if the brands you use are humane. That being said, there are thousands of vegan, cruelty-free brands that adhere to higher standards.
PETA was the first to expose UGG’s unethical practices, even releasing a video revealing the unsettling reality of their wool marketing. Receiving lots of backlash, UGG released a statement on their website claiming that they are not the ones who raise the sheep, but rather their third-party suppliers whom they purchase from. They have policies and regulations that the suppliers are “required to follow,” which are not under their control. It appears that this is an excuse for the behavior that has recently been discovered. UGG only decided to make a vague and unconvincing claim on their website after having been exposed. By purchasing from the brand, you could be supporting innocent sheep and lambs being harmed.
The boots that you may admire at the store are manufactured with the skin and parts of a sweet animal, a living thing, in fact. It should cross your mind when you see people wearing these shoes that they are either not educated about what they are buying or are ignorant of animal cruelty and inhumane practices. The next time you’re in the store for some new winter boots, keep in mind that the process of how the products are made matters.