Sheep
Table of Contents
Introduction
People have been farming sheep for the last 11,000-13,000 years starting with the wild mouflon in ancient Mesopotamia. They were one of the first animals we domesticated, providing families and communities with meat, milk, and skins. - Wikipedia: Domestication of the sheep
Sheep are smart, social animals who naturally live for 10-12 years, though the oldest known sheep lived to a little over 28 years. Unfortunately lambs are usually slaughtered at only around 8 months old for meat, and the wool industry slaughters adults at only 5-6 years old as their wool production slows and their wool becomes more brittle. - Animals Liberation: Sheep Farming
Population & Statistics
Our World In Data: Livestock Counts, World, 1890 to 2014 (Interactive Graph) While sheep historically outnumbered other species of livestock, they are now the 3rd most-farmed species of land animal.
Our World In Data: Meat production by livestock type, World, 1961 to 2021 This graph shows sheep and goats as the 4rth most consumed type of land animal.
Sheep Numbers & Wool Production (PDF)
World sheep numbers in 2021 rose to a new record level of 1.266 billion head, up from 1.263 billion head in 2020.
India and Australia, the second and third largest countries by sheep population, recorded increases of 2% and 2.8%. In China (the largest country), sheep numbers are estimated to have fallen by 1.2 million head (down by 0.7%).
World wool production in greasy weight terms fell slightly in 2021, by 0.6% to 1,950 mkg, continuing the downward trend seen since 2015.
There were some significant declines in greasy wool production among the major producing countries. Wool production in New Zealand fell by 2.4% in greasy weight terms but remained the third largest producer. This continued the declines in production seen in the past decade or more. China (the second largest producer) saw production slide slightly, a fall of 0.4%, after recording a 2.2% drop in 2020.
Wild Sheep vs Feral Sheep
Wild sheep were the original ancestors of modern domesticate sheep, and they still serve important functions in the ecosystems where they evolved.
Feral Sheep are sheep who (either themselves or their ancestors) were domesticated sheep who either got loose or were released into the wild. Since they are
Problems of Sheep Farming
Biodiversity Loss
Sheep, along with goats and cattle which have been released into new habitats such as the Hawaiian Islands have caused devastating losses in biodiversity.
Most of this destruction is driven by the animals' apetite for vegetation, tearing bark of trees and eating plants down to the root. Once those plants die off, the species that rely on them for survival soon follow after. Over time, lush forests and grasslands turn bare, even suffering from erosion which can lead to dangerous land slides in hilly regions.
In addition to eating or starving out various species, predators are often targeted by farmers, hunters, and even govornment agencies to "protect" livestock including sheep and their lambs. Unfortunately hunting predators has been scientifically proven to be problematic on many levels, causing issues including:
Species extinction
Traps and poison that kill unintended victims (sometimes endangered species, children, and family pets)
Mesopredator release - non-apex predators experience population explosions resulting in more livestock and crop loss
Prey animal population explosions - without predators to keep them in check, herbivore populations can explode, causing them to eat everything including crops, which can then result in profit loss and localized extinctions.
The following species have suffered terrible losses to the sheep farming industry and illegal persecution from farmers:
Birds of Prey including eagles and vultures.
Some species are already extinct, while others still face illegal persecution from farmers.
Carnivores including the Tasmanian Tiger as well as British and Sicilian Wolves were hunted to extinction because of farmer's fear of them hurting their sheep.
Sheep vs Trees
Historically, sheep were a primary driver or deforestation, especially in places such as the UK, where they are still damaging (even protected) forests, and preventing reforestation.
Livestock Grazing is Preventing the Return of Rainforests to the UK and Ireland "Most of the UK and Ireland’s grass-fed cows and sheep are on land that might otherwise be temperate rainforest – arable crops tend to prefer drier conditions. However, even if there were no livestock grazing in the rainforest zone – and these areas were threatened by other crops instead – livestock would still pose an indirect threat due to their huge land footprint. You need around 35 times more land to get 100g of protein from lamb than you do from peas, beans and other pulses."
Soil Health & Erosion
Livestock, their hooves, their habits, and their manure all have a variety of impacts on our soil.
Water Use & Pollution
Safety of Sheep Products
Milk
Prions can be passed from infected animals to other animals or humans, via the consumption of milk. Prions are damaged neurons which act like "zombies" in that they damage and infect healthy brain cells even after their own death. This causes more healthy cells to become damaged and go on to infect more. Prions are famous for causing mad cow disease outbreaks which (when they infect a human) become "a human form of mad cow disease called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), which is fatal. Over time, vCJD destroys the brain and spinal cord." - My Health Alberta
"Surprisingly, pasteurisation (heating for 30 seconds to 72°C) and ultra-high temperature treatment (heating for 1–4 seconds to 135°C) only leads to a partial reduction of the amount of PrPC. This supports the observation that PrPC is highly stable in milk. Thus, the heating procedures used to inactivate DNA-containing pathogens are not sufficient to eliminate endogenous prion proteins." - NCBI: Prion Protein in Milke
Wool & Lanolin
Wool contains lanolin, an oil with many uses, including use in cosmetics. Unfortunately it can cause reactions in certain people, meaning some people can't even wear wool.
As is typical of fatty substances, sheep's wool tends to hold onto dangerous chemicals including dip. Scroll down to learn about the impacts of sheep dip on people, livestock, food/feed crops, and the environment.
Dangerous Sheep Dip Chemicals
"Dieldrin, DDT, endrin, aldrin and lindane are organochlorine pesticides that were used as sheep dipping chemicals to treat sheep ectoparasites from the 1940s until 1961. Organochlorine pesticides break down very slowly in the environment and can persist for several decades. These pesticides are still being measured in high concentrations at sheep dip sites in New Zealand. Organochlorine pesticides were banned as active ingredients in stock remedies due to concerns over meat residues in 1961. The use and storage of these chemicals is banned under the Stockholm Convention for persistent organic pollutants. Dieldrin is the most common organochlorine pesticide contaminating soil and water within and adjacent to former dip sites. More than one type of organochlorine pesticide may be measured in soil and water samples collected from dip sites." - Sheep Dip Factsheet (PDF)
Affects of Sheep Dip Chemicals on Humans
"Long-term/chronic exposures to organochlorine pesticides affect the central nervous system and can cause liver damage in humans. DDT and lindane have been classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans. DDT can also have adverse effects on development and reproduction and lindane can cause kidney damage." - Sheep Dip Factsheet (PDF)
Affects of Sheep Dip Chemicals on Animals
"The effects of organochlorine pesticides on animals are similar to those in humans. Concentrations of dieldrin in soil high enough to be fatal to young stock have been measured at sheep dip sites in New Zealand." - Sheep Dip Factsheet (PDF)
Sheep Dip Residue's Impacts on Crops
"Edible crops for humans and animal feed should not be grown on or in the vicinity of known or suspected sheep dip sites as they can become contaminated with soil containing organochlorine pesticides from dust and mud splash. Some crops are able to take up organochlorine pesticides from soil including root crops (carrots, potatoes) and curcubits (pumpkins, squash and zucchinis). The testing of soil and irrigation water is recommended prior to planting crops for export, animal feed or domestic consumption. Irrigating crops with water contaminated by organochlorine pesticides is not recommended." - Sheep Dip Factsheet (PDF)
Organochlorine Residues in Animal Products
"Organochlorine pesticides accumulate in the fat of animals and their concentration in body fat can be much greater than in soil. Organochlorine pesticides are slowly excreted and are broken down very gradually in animal livers. It can take several months for the concentration of organochlorine pesticides in an animal’s fat to reduce by half once the animal is no longer being exposed to organochlorine pesticides. Organochlorine pesticides can also accumulate in wool and lanolin, and milk. Animals are exposed to organochlorine No. 2 Sheep Dip Factsheet ORGANOCHLORINE PESTICIDES 01 Swim through dip Source: Tasman District Council pesticides through soil ingestion (including soil attached to grass roots), by drinking contaminated water and to a lesser extent through feed and contaminated dust. Sheep eat an estimated 125 g of soil per day and cows about 1kg. Wet muddy conditions, short pasture, feeding out of hay and silage, and consumption of fodder crops such as turnips and chowmollier can increase the amount of soil eaten by stock. Where residues are present, animals that dig or disturb the soil, including pigs, chickens and bulls, will have increased exposure to organochlorine pesticides. There are regulatory limits under organochlorine pesticides (Maximum Residue Limits or MRLs) in animal products, including meat, fat, milk, offal, poultry and eggs. Organochlorine residues in animal products are a risk to local and international trade and farmers can be prosecuted if organochlorine residues exceed regulatory limits. In 1987 Australian meat exports to the United States and Japan were banned because of detections of organochlorine residues in meat. The Australian ‘Beef Crisis’ cost millions of dollars in lost product, and on-farm management practices for organochlorines remain in place today. In 2007 NZ beef exports to Korea were suspended when endosulfan (a newer organochlorine insecticide licensed for use on plants) was detected in a consignment of beef." - Sheep Dip Factsheet (PDF)
Welfare
Sheep & Lamb Welfare
Sheep are prey animals who become easily stressed when chased or captured. This includes being stalked by sheep dogs or grabbed by farm workers for medical care or sheering.
Museling & Tail Docking
Both of these brutal and bloody procedures are routinely done without any anesthetic or medical after care.
Scientific studies have found long term negative consequences for these procedures including lingering pain long after the procedures, as well as mental health consequences including depression and anxiety in sheep who have been museled or had their tails docked.
Winter Lambing
This is when sheep are bred to give birth in the winter, so that the lambs will ween when there is ample plant growth. The problem is that cold weather can kill 1/4 lambs during this time, particularly when sheep are bred to birth triplets, meaning one out of those three is abandoned to starve if another ewe doesn't adopt it.
Wool Harvesting
"Primitive sheep can be shorn, but many can have their wool plucked out by hand in a process called "rooing". Rooing helps to leave behind the coarse fibers called kemps which are still longer than the soft fleece." - Wikipedia: Domestication of the sheep
Sheering accidents are common, especially in the corporately-owned facilities where poor workers are forced to work as fast as possible, resulting in bloody, or even deadly cuts for the sheep. Workers also suffer from injuries, which can put them at risk of disease, infection, or even loss of limbs.
Worker Welfare
"Some known problems include workplace health and safety, sweatshops and child labor, gender inequality, inadequate pay, wage theft and exploitation. Workers can even experience harassment, humiliation and violence. Unfair employers often fail to provide laborers with access to shade, drinking water, restrooms and breaks.
Consequently, laborers can face nausea, dizziness, heat exhaustion, dehydration and heat stroke -the leading cause of farmworker death!
Such mistreatment is like modern day slavery. Workers are often afraid to report issues because they fear it will result in losing their jobs or deportation." - HEALable: Wool
Solutions
Buy & Produce Alternatives
Farmers
Consumers
Scroll down on the Personal Care & Hygiene page to find apps and lists of products that avoid animal products such as lanolin.
Protect Water Quality
The best way to protect our water supply is to stop wasting and polluting so much water with our growing meat and dairy industries, but the next best options are listed beneath.
Riparian Borders
Farmers with livestock can help protect waterways by protecting or restoring riparian zones around waterways. This will help keep dangerous chemicals, as well as bacteria and viruses from fecal matter from getting into the local water supply.
Planting Fields with Hedges & Trees
Providing vegetative cover for livestock such as cattle and sheep helps protect them from harsh weather, including the hot sun which can in turn reduce water requirements and stress for the animals. Hedgerows have been shown to reduce erosion from wind and rain, which in turn keeps nutrients inside the boundaries of the land, and in turn helps protect the local water quality.
Welfare
Animal Welfare
Worker Welfare
"Fair trade organizations fight to ensure better social, environmental and economic standards.
We can improve people’s lives simply by being mindful to buy items that are certified fair trade." - HEALable: Wool
Resources
Production Impacts
The following resources explain the environmental, humanitarian, and animal welfare impacts of products and practices including skins, wool, as well as the use of "sheep dip".
Tools & Apps
EWG's Skin Deep "Your guide to safer personal care products Backed by science. Designed for you. Learn what’s really in your personal care products."
Organizations
Oceana
Australia
Animal Liberation "Our mission is to expose the realities of the treatment of animals used for food, entertainment, fashion, science, as companions, and those subjected to management or control programs.
Animal Liberation lobbies all levels of government and various industries complicit in animal exploitation, in an attempt to influence legislation and permanently improve the lives of all animals."Vegan Australia: Campaigns "plans to initiate a number of campaigns directed towards promoting a vision of a vegan world."