• Braysl@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    My ex thought the only way to get llama wool was to kill the llama. For some reason, this logic only applied to llamas, she understood sheep wool didn’t require the same sort of blood sacrifice.

    • aeternum@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      that’s actually not true. All wool sheep go to slaughter. When they’re no longer useful, they end up dead and on someone’s plate.

      • Braysl@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I mean they are certainly shorn more than once before that happens, so I wouldn’t exactly say it’s a blood sacrifice.

        • aeternum@kbin.social
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          11 months ago

          never mind that they often get cut quite badly because the shearers are on such a tight deadline.

          • Braysl@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Once again, they are not skinned alive to make a sweater so not exactly what my ex pictured happened for yarn products.

              • Sarmyth@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                Your non-sequitur is bordering on badgering at this point. We got it the first time. You’re smarter and kinder than us.

              • AlataOrange@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                Natural lifespan? What natural life span? Sleep are unable to survive in the wild for more then a few years before the amount of wool they grow will cause their bodies to cook themselves. They are dependent on humans sheering them to live out their “natural” lifespan. Ultimately they, along with all animals we have breed for service are not natural any more.

                • aeternum@kbin.social
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                  11 months ago

                  yeah, because we bred them that way. there are nautrally occurring sheep that don’t need to be shorn all the time, and they do just fine.

  • Xariphon@kbin.social
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    11 months ago

    One of the cutest things I’ve ever seen was at a county fair. A woman was combing this enormously fluffy angora rabbit, and spinning the fluff directly into yarn. I have never seen another bunny reach such cat-worthy levels of smug satisfaction in my life.

    • I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      They used to do that at our county fair too! Only it was three old ladies who looked very much like they might have just been visiting our realm from a story book about witches. One was combing the rabbit, the next was carding the fluff and the third was spinning on, I’m pretty sure, Sleeping Beauty’s actual spinning wheel. There were a bunch of rabbits just lazing about at their feet, waiting for their turn. It was my favorite part of the fair.

  • The2b@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    What do you think we do with sheep once they no longer provide a sufficient amount of wool?

      • grysbok@lemmy.sdf.org
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        11 months ago

        I thought it was that fur includes the skin of the animal. Wool (which is used in yarn production) does not include the skin of the animal.

        The joke works on multiple levels which is nice.

    • Zorque@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      Force them into an unending elder care program designed to squeeze every last penny from them, while providing the bare minimum of care possible?

      • I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Kind of related? I used to work at an elder care facility that had “therapy goats.” Lil baby goats that needed bottle feeding. We’d bring them to the residents’ rooms for cuddles and they would get to take turns feeding them. They were so delighted by them, it was damn cute.

  • avocado_ghost
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    11 months ago

    Animals bred for wool typically end up getting slaughtered for meat as soon as they stop being profitable, so they’re actually not wrong.

    • Zorque@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      How do you know the wool came from animals that are now too old to produce?

    • interloper@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Plus depending on your location, they are barely profitable for wool, so it doesn’t take much for one sheep to cost too much.

  • dx1@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Yeah, uh, in mass production they’re treated like garbage, cut up during shearing, abused, crammed into tiny shitty conditions. They’re not inherently killed to produce wool but they do often die in relation to being treated as raw material for production.

    • Magpie@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      And when they stop being profitable (by not producing top-quality wool as they age), they do get slaughtered for meat.