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MELBOURNE - The Vice-President of animal welfare group PETA today said he felt bad about the controversy involving US rocker Pink, who withdrew her support for its campaign against sheep mulesing.
"I think with Pink, the situation I feel bad about is that I didn't prepare her for how vicious and how misleading the wool trade group ... can be in going after anybody who speaks out about the cruelty of the wool trade," Dan Mathews told the Nine Network today.
In December, Pink called on fans worldwide to boycott Australian wool products as she spoke out against mulesing -- a practice in which farmers cut skin from around a sheep's tail to prevent potentially deadly fly strike.
She retracted her comments last month following a wool industry and political outcry in Australia, saying she was not told of plans to phase out mulesing by 2010.
Mr Mathews today said PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) sought out celebrities to help promote its campaigns because, as a charity, it could not fund advertising campaigns.
He also said the group was "absolutely diligent" in providing these celebrities with all of the facts.
"She (Pink) actually did know that there were plans to phase it out, the problem is that there have been plans to phase it out for years," Mr Mathews said.
"What an industry does and what an industry pledges to do are two vastly different things."
- AAP
