photo courtesy of business insider.com

The upcoming chilly season brings winter trends along with it. Since the early 2000’s, the boot brand UGG is the most recognizable trend.  Countless females own a pair of these expensive boots, but most of these girls are unaware of how the boots are made. Personally I use to believe that the sheep’s wool was simply sheared, and im guessing thats what girls think to. Perfectly normal for a sheep right?

Wrong.

The boots are made out of sheepskin itself, which of course means the sheep is killed. Sheep are killed by stunning, in which their throats are cut, often times while still conscious, or by mechanical gunshot and electrocution.

“I don’t think most girls know that sheep are killed to make them,” Junior Mckenna Doyle said. “I would never own a pair.”

Some might argue that the way sheep are slaughtered is humane, but to me no matter how the sheep dies it is inhumane to breed them just to take their life away. Wearing a dead animal on your feet shouldn’t be a fashion trend. Buying boots with Faux wool is always an alternative, a cheaper one too.

“I use to not know what UGGs are made of, so I just got them because of their softness. When I grew up it just clicked that in order for the boot to be made the sheep is killed.” junior Kamry Rasmussen said. “But I know now what they’re made of. It’s terrible and I will never buy them again.”

Animal rights are a big trend this year, so hopefully in the near future UGG will switch to faux fur, and lower their prices due to popular demand of cruelty free products. “Im 100% against animal cruelty especially once I became more aware of what certain companies do for a product,” Senior Sarah Meeves said. “I’m a bit more conscious of those products and I make sure I0’m getting cruelty free products. I got my pair of UGGs in middle school when I was less aware of animal cruelty.”

Many young girls will ask their parents for UGGs this Christmas, thinking that the sheep are just sheared, or not thinking about what they’re made out of at all. Parents should refrain from buying such expensive shoes that cost more than just money, but an innocent life too. Support the companies that use cruelty free products.