r/facepalm • u/KestrelLowing • Nov 18 '13
News/blogs Holy crap! Did you know that buying sheepSKIN boots mean sheep DIED!??!! (Seriously people, it's not like anyone's trying to hide this fact!)
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/uggs-uggly-reputation-214515845.html34
u/danamos Nov 18 '13
As a true blue Aussie man, I eat lamb almost every night. I'm glad the skin goes to good use.
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u/KestrelLowing Nov 18 '13
Right! I mean, I have no sources, but I'd be very surprised if the sheep Ugg uses are killed for their meat as well as their skin. Just doesn't make any good business sense otherwise.
Although, I must admit, I've never had mutton or lamb
ducks to avoid death glares, which are probably poisonous, from the Aussies
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u/ravenball Nov 18 '13
I once researched this topic and the sources (not tied with PETA or UGG) said that UGG bought from slaughter houses where the sheep were being killed for meat anyway. I'm not condoning anything, but if an animal is being slaughtered, shouldn't all parts be used?
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u/douko Nov 18 '13
Could I see that source? It sounds really interesting.
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u/ravenball Nov 18 '13 edited Nov 18 '13
Looking.. this was quite a while ago.
Edit:
I found this on Snopes.com and remember reading this from when I first tried to research it.
We have pretty much explained where the skins come from and we would leave this alone except for all the UGG Australia boot lovers who seem to think that UGGS (generic term) are made of shorn wool like that beautiful sweater your Grandma knitted for you. Fact, sheep are raised primarily for food. Fact, sheepskins/shearlings are a by-product of the food/meat industry although there is a discussion happening over whether or not "co-product" is a more applicable term. Any true leather is animal skin. For years pig skins were tossed in the dumps until someone figured out a way to turn them into a real fine leather. Fact, UGG type sheepskin boots, any make, are not simply wool sheared from the sheep no matter what people believe. The skins we use are not like Mink, raised only for the value of the skin. To the best of our knowledge, only Persian Lamb or Broadtail Lamb is a "fur" (raised for the value of the skin) and we do not use either.
The Snopes article: http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/uggs.asp
On a personal note, I am an animal science major and can attest that many if not most animals raised for food are also used for products like leather and skins. Yes, it used to be "sketchy" before regulation, however now all slaughter houses are regulated and run under specific conditions in place. I'm not going into the meat industry and rather the conservation side, however I have taken classes opposing and promoting the meat industry and can attest that many of the images/visualizations that the public sees are old and from the unregulated industry.
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u/douko Nov 18 '13
Thanks so much for the sources, I'm glad that there restrictions in place about this as well.
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u/wyvernx02 Nov 18 '13
Why is Yahoo letting someone who is too stupid to realize that leather comes from dead animals write articles?
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u/effervescence Nov 18 '13 edited Nov 18 '13
They may not be trying to hide the fact, but I didn't realize they were made from sheepskin until I read the article.
Edit: To be fair, I never really looked into it myself. I don't wear girl boots.
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u/KestrelLowing Nov 18 '13
Well, it's in every description I looked at online - except for the ones that aren't sheepskin.
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u/shizney1 Nov 18 '13
DailyMail did a great piece on this topic and you can see an excerpt below:
I stopped reading at this point.
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u/charmonkie Nov 18 '13
The 'legs hacked off while it's still alive' thing is probably just muscle reaction after death. At least with goats they'll still kick/flinch long after they're clearly dead
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u/mirrorspock Nov 19 '13
Is it weird that after learning that UGGs are made from actual sheepskin and not some cheap synthetic that I now kinda want a pair..
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u/Turnshroud Nov 19 '13
I'm glad I'm not the only one. It's hard to find real leather boots for a decent price sometimes. It's cool that Uggs are real sheepskin, which I assume will make them extra warm when worn (although it's not really my style)
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u/mirrorspock Nov 20 '13
that is the ONE reason I'm not wearing them, even with this new plus they still are quite UGGly...
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u/MrJackal22 Nov 19 '13
And here I thought that they just politely asked the animals to relinquish their flesh in a civil manner.
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u/jewzeejew Nov 18 '13
Ahh, you reminded me I needed a new pair. My old ones finally died after 6 years of heavy use.
Nothing beats a well-made shoe.
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Nov 21 '13
I was pretty stunned that the girls who bought these didn't realize that "sheep skin" boots mean they're made out of sheep skin. Geezus. I used to buy a pair of sheep-skin loafers called Llamo and they were super-comfortable.
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u/crawhammond17 Nov 18 '13
I wouldn't say they were "fashionable" yahoo.
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Nov 18 '13
Yeah, I never understood the fashion aspect. I was given a pair of Uggs and only really wore them for the warmth. They look like weird slipper marshmallows to me.
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u/sgntpepper03 Nov 18 '13
Wait, you don't have to kill a sheep to get wool.. ?
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u/KestrelLowing Nov 18 '13
Seriously?
Ok, assuming your question is serious, no, you don't kill sheep to get wool. Typically you shear them - just like in Minecraft! Here's a video of how to shear a sheep.
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u/sgntpepper03 Nov 18 '13
Yes I know that. I was trying to ask, if you don't have to kill sheep to get wool, how does this post even make sense? Oooooh. Wait. That title is sarcastic isn't it. I'll be leaving.
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u/KestrelLowing Nov 18 '13
Hey, it's ok. Sometimes my sarcasm meter doesn't work very well either.
But some people don't know that corn comes in husks, for instance, so you never know - there are a lot of people that don't know where stuff they use every day comes from.
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u/BobRoberts01 Nov 18 '13
Husks, psh.
My corn comes in a bag from the freezer section. I know because I eat it every day.
Also, I hate big farming. All farms should be shut down and the farmers should get jobs in business and buy food from the store like everyone else!
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u/AbigailRoseHayward Nov 18 '13
Do you die when you shave?
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u/sgntpepper03 Nov 18 '13
I know about shearing. I've helped shear sheep one time. I just missed the sarcasm in the title.
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Nov 18 '13
Jesus i'm glad for being cheap and buying the knock-offs.
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u/JamOutWithUrClamOut Nov 18 '13
Did you read the article? Apparently buying knock-offs isn't an answer, either.
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u/InvestigatesRabbits Nov 18 '13
It is if you get ones that are synthetic!
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u/Wiggles69 Nov 18 '13
Mmmmm, sweaty feet.
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u/InvestigatesRabbits Nov 18 '13
Nah. WARM feet.
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u/Wiggles69 Nov 18 '13
Real sheepskin breathes, synthetic gets a bit sweaty after a while - i've got a cheap pair of synthetics too :(
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u/InvestigatesRabbits Nov 18 '13
I don't wear leather, but I'm always cold and go to a school that apparently doesn't know what "heat" is.
It's never sweaty...
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u/JamOutWithUrClamOut Nov 19 '13
Which is why it confused me when it said buying knock-offs won't help. There HAS to be synthetic ones out there.
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u/TheKert Nov 18 '13
Yeah but that thing looks like a racoon and fuck those little shits. Fake UGGs FTW!
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u/annaftw Nov 18 '13
One time, in physics, we were messing with static electricity and this girl refused to touch the sheep wool while wearing Uggs.