Wool Street in San Francisco, Calif. PETA asked the city’s Board of Supervisors to consider changing the name to Vegan Wool Street to draw attention to the treatment of sheep used for wool harvesting.
人人道对待ment of Animals has asked the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to rename Wool Street in the city’s Bernal Heights neighborhood to Vegan Wool Street to bring attention to the cruelty inflicted on sheep during the wool-shearing process.
In an open letter to Supervisor Hillary Ronen, whose district includes Bernal Heights, PETA asked the board to make the name change permanent — or to at least consider changing it for a month or a week per year.
The letter extolled the human-like qualities of sheep as “highly intelligent, unique individuals who, like all of us, feel happiness, joy, pain, fear, and loneliness and value their friends, family and lives.”
Sheep subjected to the wool trade are “treated as nothing more than wool-producing machines. Every single one of PETA’s exposés of the global wool industry — including over 100 wool operations on four continents — has revealed that sheep are subjected to severe, systemic abuse.”
A sheep and her lambs roam a grass-covered pasture in California. PETA has asked the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to change the name of Wool Street, and has offered to cover the cost of doing so.
Jessica Christian / The ChronicleThe letter, signed by PETA President Ingrid Newkirk, states that PETA would pay for the signage change as one small step toward moving the textile industry toward wool-like fabrics that are made using seaweed, soy, hemp, coconut fiber and other organic materials.
“With this simple name change, San Francisco could remind everyone that it’s easy to stay warm and be warmhearted to sheep by choosing vegan wool and other animal-free materials.”
As a final incentive for sponsoring the name change, Newkirk offered Ronen 10 free vegan wool coats to distribute as she sees fit.
Reached by phone on Wednesday morning, Ronen acknowledged receiving the letter.
“As someone who cares deeply about animals I appreciate the request but we are in a deficit budget and have other priorities,” she said.
When asked if the offer of 10 free coats as a reward for sponsoring the name change legislation would constitute graft, she laughed.
“My office is addressing life-or-death issues every day, and now is not the time for symbolic statements. Therefore I will not be pursuing it.”
Wool Street runs for two long blocks between Powhattan Avenue and Cortland Avenue, the main shopping corridor of Bernal Heights. A street name change of any length would require approval of a majority of the supervisors, extensive public notifications and hearings, and the signature of the mayor.
Jacqui Sadashi, senior corporate responsibility officer for PETA, told The Chronicle Wednesday that she had not yet heard back from Ronen regarding the offer, but she is hopeful.
“It is a great way to promote being a vegan-friendly city. San Francisco is already a vegan-friendly city, and we are asking Supervisor Ronen to further this legacy in the New Year,” Sadashi said.
Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SamWhitingSF
