The Five Freedoms: A Global Foundation for Sheep Welfare
When buying wool, one should be able to ask a simple question and get an honest answer: how was the animal that produced this fiber treated? Fortunately, the global wool industry has, for several decades now, had a strong framework to answer this question — a framework called the Five Freedoms.
This concept originated from a specific historical context: a report submitted to the British Parliament in 1965, known as the Brambell Report, which established that farm animals should have the freedom to stand up, lie down, turn around, groom themselves, and stretch their limbs freely. Over time, this framework was enriched to become the Five Freedoms we know today: freedom from hunger, malnutrition, and thirst; freedom from fear and distress; freedom from thermal stress or physical discomfort; freedom from pain, injury, and disease; and freedom to express natural behaviors specific to the species.
These five principles are now recognized by the World Organisation for Animal Health as the international reference for animal welfare, and they serve as the foundation for specific regulations in each wool-producing country around the world — whether it's Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, or closer to home, Canada.
What makes this information particularly relevant to you is that it gives you concrete vocabulary to answer your own customers' legitimate questions about the ethical sourcing of the wool you use.
At Makeloo Studio, these principles are not just a box to tick: they directly guide the relationship of trust we maintain with each of our 16 partner farms in Lanaudière, where we take the time to learn about breeding practices even before discussing fiber processing.
Source: International Wool Textile Organisation, Specifications for Wool Sheep Welfare (2026); World Organisation for Animal Health.