Puma has committed to stop using wool from mulesed sheep by 2025 at the latest, and will be working to source only from Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) certified wool suppliers by that date. The decision follows a campaign by the animal welfare organization Four Paws to ban mulesing of lambs. Calvin Klein and Marks & Spencer have also agreed to ban mutilation of lambs in their supply chains. Mulesing is a controversial technique through which large strips of wool-bearing skin are cut from weeks-old Merino lambs using sharp shears and usually without anesthesia. This technique is meant to reduce the risk of parasitic infestation, but pain-free alternatives to mulesing are available, according to Four Paws. More than 75 percent of wool exports and 90 percent of the fine merino wool used in the global fashion industry comes from Australia, which is the only country in the world where mulesing is still practiced, the animal welfare group explained.

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