Coloring Contest: Draw Romy’s Holiday Sweater for the Chance to Win Prizes!
Very few things make a holiday sweater uglier than when it is made from wool or adorned with fur or leather. Romy’s wooly coat provides coziness and protection for him and his sheep friends. His wish for the holidays is for us to help him keep the wool on his back and off our own. Join Romy’s Contest by printing out this coloring sheet and dressing him up in his best holiday sweater . Take a photo of your completed coloring sheet and post it to Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #RomysHolidaySweaterContest for a chance to win fantastic prizes from Farm Sanctuary’s Sweet Shoppe. One winner will even be rewarded a Vegan Winter Jacket from Wully Outerwear*. The deadline for entries is midnight on December 24, 2017.
Why Wool Ain’t Pretty
These days sheep have been bred to grow as much wool as possible, which is beneficial to the wool industry but harmful to the sheep. Excessive wool interferes with a sheep’s ability to maintain a comfortable body temperature on their own. Eliza, Nate, Bob and Barry all need a gentle and slow shearing -once in the early spring and again in early fall- to keep them comfortable and cool. However, their shearing experience is very different from their brothers and sisters in the wool industry.
Sheep in the wool industry suffer profoundly at the hands of their shearers who are paid by the amount of sheep they shear, not by the hour. This policy encourages fast work and disregard for the welfare of the sheep. Rough and careless shearing almost always leads to injury, infection, and painful nicks in the skin. Medical treatment post-shearing is rare and after years of brutal treatment, sheep who are no longer needed for wool are slaughtered for meat.
Romy happens to be a breed of sheep that sheds on his own but he has his buddies’ backs. Eliza, Nate, Bob and Romy believe it’s time to move away from these cruel practices and make a move toward the plant-based alternatives.
Why Do Sheep Love Their Wool?
A sheep’s wooly coat helps them fight extreme weather.
It takes a sheep 6 weeks to grow back enough wool to keep them warm in the colder months.
Sheep love to snuggle, and their wool is no barrier.
Sheep have a great sense of touch and love to get up close, even through their thick wooly coat. They use their feet and legs, nose and head, to paw for attention, rub up close, and show love to family and friends. Mothers love to nuzzle and snuggle with their lambs close by their side.
A wooly coat is a sheep’s identity.
A sheared sheep is often hard to recognize. Many people mix them up, including their fellow sheep friends. Sheep are very visual animals and when a sheared sheep comes back into the flock they can be greeted with a big head butt until they’ve been sniffed out and recognized. You can see the recognition in their faces when they’ve figured out who’s who!
Wool helps small animals get comfy.
Once the sheep at Farm Sanctuary have been sheared, their wool is taken up a pasture hill and spread around. Birds and other small creatures collect the wool to make nests and use it for bedding. Farm Sanctuary doesn’t sell the wool because the sheep didn’t grow it for human benefit. Any money made for financial gain is contrary to our mission.
*No purchase necessary. Retail value $519-$529
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