Victorian Farmers Federation lodge official complaint against PETA advert

FARMERS have taken action against PETA's "grotesque and grossly misleading" campaign against Australia's wool industry.

Under fire: Jona Weinhofen with the fake lamb in PETA’s advertisement.

FARMERS have taken action against animal rights group PETA's "grotesque and grossly misleading" campaign against Australia's wool industry.

The Victorian Farmers Federation today lodged an official complaint to the Advertising Standards Bureau against the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ new online advertisement encouraging consumers not to buy woollen products due to concerns over animal welfare.

The advertisement features Australian musician Jona Weinhofen holding what appears to be a shorn lamb covered in blood and cuts alongside the words “Here’s the rest of your wool coat”. In the campaign, PETA claims that “25 per cent of the world’s wool comes from Australia, and it’s made from 100 per cent cruelty”.

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PETA said the advertisement represented “the realities of the Australian wool industry” but later admitted the lamb used in the campaign was a prop. It is believed to have been made out of foam.

In its submission to the Advertising Standards Bureau, seen by The Weekly Times, the VFF said the campaign “denigrates, offends, belittles and insults every Australian’s intelligence”.

“The fact the lamb they are trying to represent is fake and made our of foam is grossly misleading and offensive,” the submission says.

“The comments and allegations made by PETA misrepresent and damage an entire industry.”

The VFF said the campaign was based on claims PETA had attributed to the Shearing Contractors Association that animal cruelty in shearing sheds was “systemic”.

The Shearing Contractors Association last week rejected this and said the PETA campaign was “completely misleading” and “a desperate, self-serving publicity stunt”.

“Fact checking is a basic exercise which the animal activist organisation has clearly failed to do,” the VFF submission said.

“PETA does not wish to play by the same rules as everybody else. An entire industry should not and cannot be tarnished by the actions of a few.”

An Advertising Standards Bureau spokeswoman confirmed the VFF complaint had been received and said a decision on whether or not it met its requirements for investigation would be made this week.

PETA Australia campaigns manager Ashley Fruno today didn’t answer specific questions put to the organisation by The Weekly Times but said it was “disingenuous for the industry” to say that cruelty such as the one represented in the advertisement didn’t exist “when there is documented evidence of it”.

“Everyone keeps forgetting that there is a video that documents shearing leading to severe cuts on sheep’s bodies,” Ms Fruno said.

“Large swaths of many sheep’s skin were cut or ripped off by the shears. Workers didn’t give sheep any painkillers before using needles to sew up their flesh to try to close gaping, bloody wounds caused by shearing while the sheep writhed and kicked out in pain.”