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www.BoycottSweden.com

By Jonathan J. Ariel - posted Friday, 28 March 2008


Future school textbooks may not reveal it, but in early March 2008, the Kingdom of Sweden declared war on Australia.

Once upon a time the Vikings were noble men and brave warriors. These days they are little more than a coterie of cowards and myth makers, unwilling or unable to fight for Christian values in a country slowly but surely being Islamified. In Scandinavia today, two nations stand tall and proud - the Danes and the Icelanders - while two others tip toe from Christian ideals and make a mockery of western values - the Swedes and their former colonial subjects, the Norwegians.

The Swedish motivated boycott of Australian wool sales to the European Union is a case in point. It threatens $370 million worth of exports by dressing up protectionism as a righteous attack on the animal husbandry practice of mulesing sheep - practiced so as to reduce the incidence of flystrike.

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Calls for a EU-wide boycott followed the capturing on camera in Stockholm of Mr Kevin Craig, a consultant to the Australian Wool and Sheep Industry Taskforce, offering a holiday to Australia to animal rights militant, Ms Katarina Lingehag Ekholm, in exchange for her turning down an interview with Sweden’s TV4’s current affairs program, Kalla Fakta (Cold Facts).

A spokesman for the taskforce's marketing arm, Australian Wool Innovation, denied the trip was a bribe, but admitted Mr Craig had acted improperly.

The footage has heightened the gossip among Stockholm’s chattering classes over mulesing, where 19 retailers have banned selling goods made with Australian wool.

What is mulesing?

Mulesing refers to the surgical removal of strips of wool-bearing wrinkle skin from around the rear of a sheep. Mulesing is common practice in Australia, and will be phased out by December 31, 2010. Its aim is to prevent sheep being slowly eaten alive by maggots. This devastating condition is called flystrike.

Mulesing is considered by the Australian Government, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Australian Veterinary Association to be a compromise in providing for the welfare of sheep

Background

Mulesing is named after Mr J.W.H. Mules, who, while shearing a ewe which had suffered several fly-strikes, Mules' hand slipped and his blade shears removed some skin from her hind end. After performing this procedure on his other sheep, Mules noticed that it prevented the occurrence of flystrike. Over time, this procedure was refined and proved to reduce flystrike. It was approved for use in Australia some 70 years ago.

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For young lambs older than two months, mulesing takes one to two minutes and the discomfort period lasts for approximately two weeks by which time healing is almost, if not entirely, complete. Lambs rarely die or become ill after mulesing.

Controversy

Sweden’s government echoes animal rights and animal welfare activists’ dogma that considers mulesing to be inhumane and unnecessary.

In October, 2004, American fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. responded to massive pressure from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to boycott Australian merino wool due in part to the use of mulesing in Australia. A few weeks later, representatives of the Australian wool industry hoisted the white flag, voting to phase out the practice of mulesing in Australia by December 2010.

Alternatives to mulesing

At present, mulesing is an essential part of sheep husbandry. That said, the wool industry is actively looking at other methods to prevent and control blowfly strike, including a non-surgical alternative.

Besides focusing on the source of the problem - the blowfly - by targeting a genetic weaknesses for new chemical and biological compounds as well as biocontrol of the blowflies (PDF 388KB), several alternatives to mulesing are being developed, including:

  1. clips;
  2. needleless intradermal injection; and
  3. breeding.

1. Clips

The clips are attached to flaps of skin that would be removed during mulesing. The clip’s pressure on the flap of skin prevents blood flow to that part of the skin. The lack of blood supply causes the flap of skin to wither and both the clip and the skin flap typically fall off within a couple of weeks to leave a closed linear scar.

There is no open wound at any time during the process. Another benefit of the clip method is that the amount of skin “stretch” can be clearly seen during the process of applying the clips, making it easier to achieve the optimal bare breech result.

2. Needleless intradermal injection

The needle-free applicator delivers a measured dose of formulation 1mm into the skin - not through the skin, nor into the muscle. This causes necrosis (death of the skin cells) in the treated area. A bruise forms, followed by a scab which dries and falls off, leaving the stretched skin underneath.

3. Breeding

Sires with a possible genetic make-up that are completely wool free in the crutch and inner hind legs may hold the genetic keys to breeding animals that do not need to be either mulesed or crutched.

Stockholm’s indignation regarding mulesing is disingenuous. There are already moves afoot to replace mulesing with other procedures from 2011. What do the Swedes want to happen between now and 2011? For lambs to be denied mulesing and die a slow and mind-boggingly painful death? WA Farmers claim that PETA are breaking their agreement so as to promote synthetics. This seems highly likely.

However disingenous it may be, Sweden’s claim, if nothing else, is consistent with its historic preoccupation of pretending to be a high minded and principled nation, when it has been anything but.

Sixty-five years ago, Sweden professed to owning the high moral ground by claiming “neutrality” during World War II, while secretly selling iron ore to the Nazis. Aiding and abetting the Nazi war machine cost countless British and American lives. Just how many is hard to determine. Sweden’s “neutrality” saw nothing improper with allowing Nazi troop reinforcements to travel from Germany across Sweden to Norway, to reinforce Adolph Hitler’s puppet in Oslo, Mr Vidkun Quisling

Its high mindedness allowed free reign to a eugenics program that authorised sterilisations of “undesirables”, which began in 1935 and continued long after the war, persisting until an agency that called itself chillingly the National Institute for Racial Hygiene was disbanded in 1976.

Breathtaking isn’t it? In post war decades when social democratic Sweden considered itself a citadel of enlightenment and a tower of tolerance, the country was silently pursuing principles of racial purity that would make Adolf blush. During those 41 years, at least 60,000 Swedes were sterilised as misfits who did not meet the ideal of the blond, blue-eyed, intelligent Aryan.

Svensk hypocrisy continued to march forward. Only two years ago, on February 10, 2006 the Swedish government shut down a website after it had published Mohammed cartoons. Has Stockholm ever shut down a website that offended Christians? I don’t think so. In fact, I know they haven’t.

And then in early March, Sweden’s Minister for Agriculture, Eskil Erlandsson sparked the latest outrage, urging European consumers to boycott Australian wool.

Given the looming economic catastrophe that a ban on Australian wool could have on our rural exports, is there anything we ordinary non-farming citizens can do?

As luck would have it, there are quite a few things we can do.

First, the New South Wales government should immediately cancel a $250 million order from Volvo for environmentally friendly EURO 5 buses. Mercedes makes similar buses and I’m sure that Berlin would be grateful for the added business.

Second, the Swedish Australian Chamber of Commerce has organised a weekend in Canberra, with Ambassador, Karin Ehnbom Palmquist in attendance. The aim of the weekend of (May 25-26) is to visit Parliament and to meet Members. Perhaps Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will lead by example and forbid any member of his government from meeting with the boycotters. Ditto Mr Nelson.

Third, every one of us can send Stockholm a message. Note the names of the following two firms that have won prestigious awards from the Swedish Trade Council / Swedish-Australian Chamber of Commerce, on 19 December 2007:

Assa Abloy was praised for long term success in Australia. You may not have heard of their name, but I bet you’ve heard of a lock maker called Lockwood. Guess who owns Lockwood?

Carpe Diem PR & Events, a public relations firm, won for best newcomer to the Australian market. (I wonder just how comfortable the Business Council of Australia and the ACT Government are, being or having been, clients of Carpe Diem?)

Don’t buy SAAB or Volvo. Shop anywhere, but IKEA. And say “nej” to a host of very familiar brand names (including Electrolux, AEG-Electrolux, Westinghouse, Simpson, Chef and Dishlex) all owned by Swedish multinational, Electrolux. Oh, and hang up on Ericsson mobile phones.

The names below list companies - both Swedish and non Swedish - that sponsor part of the Swedish Australian Chamber of Commerce website. Feel free to voice your anger by emailing those firms or telling them of your refusal to use their products or services, until such time as they ideally disengage from that Chamber of Commerce or at least, publicly condemn the Swedish government’s threats to slaughter our wool industry:

Abloy Security Pty Ltd; AJS Computing Services; Ascom Nira Pty Ltd; Assa Abloy Asia Pacific; Astra Tech Pty Ltd; Autoliv Australia Pty Ltd; BDO; BTS Australasia Pty Ltd; Crown Entertainment Complex; Direct Link Worldwide; Doro Australia Pty Ltd; Eastern Engine Pty Ltd; Electrolux Home Products; Ericsson; Finnair; Finnesse Communications; Funkis Swedish Forms; GBST; Gunnebo Security Pty Ltd; Healthy Edge Australasia; Hearland Saab; Höglund Art Glass Gallery; Husqvarna Pty Ltd; IKEA Aust Scan Pty Ltd; International College of Management; Invest Australia; Kinnarps of Sweden; Letherbarrow Lawyers; Malö Yachts Australia; Mats Jonasson; Medipac Scientific Pty Ltd; Mercuri Urval Pty Ltd; Mist Pty Ltd; Orwak Australia Pty Ltd; Permastop Rust Pty Ltd; Proskill Australia Pty Ltd; Q-Med Australia Pty Ltd; Saab Australia; Saab Systems Pty Ltd; Safety Equipment Australia; Sandvik Australia Pty Ltd; Scandinavian Airlines System; Scania Australia Pty Ltd; SEB Private Bank; Simple Trade; Skandia; Stora Enso Australia Pty Ltd; Svärmisk Resort & Spa; Swedish Match; Sydney Euro-Center Pty Ltd; Tresscox; Thomson Playford; Trollplast Pty Ltd; Valiant Enterprises; Volvo Car Australia Pty Ltd; Volvo Truck Australia Pty Ltd; Wallenius Wilhelmsen; William Buck NSW Pty Ltd; Wilson Logistics Pty Ltd; Wridgways Worldwide Movers; Vivachi Style Pty Ltd

It’s pretty simple really.

One person can change forever the lives of our sheep farmers. If you’re that person, click here and speak your mind.

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About the Author

Jonathan J. Ariel is an economist and financial analyst. He holds a MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management. He can be contacted at jonathan@chinamail.com.

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