THE little lost lamb wandered aimlessly along George Street, Sydney, as if it were desperately seeking its mother, among the crowed flock.
The “lamb’s” two supporters from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) looked equally lost.
“Where are you going?” I asked, imagining they were meeting up with the rest of the horde of protesters, planning to march back to the Australian Wool Innovation headquarters in the HSBC building to campaign against shearing, with their signs bearing slogans claiming wool is “f*#@ing cruel”.
“We’re trying to find the entrance to the building,” responded one of the three young volunteers meekly.
A short way away, they settled on making their stand at an obscure entrance to Town Hall Station amid the building site enveloping the HSBC building.
They said nothing. Nobody was listening.
And so their silent protest went on for the next half an hour.
Busy people on their lunch break brushed past.
Few moved their heads to read the signs.
Nobody stopped, bar a homeless man giving away books written by “Anonymous” – his best friend, apparently.
“Where’s Boorungie?” he asked, referring to the signs the trio were holding.
The two young women looked at each other. One said “Queensland”. The lamb in the middle muffled something. The other said “Victoria”.
I asked them why they were protesting.
“Sheep have been punched and hit with poles, prodded with electric prodders, and sewn up roughly when they’ve had injuries without any anaesthetic,” said the self-appointed spokeswoman Shareen Masawan.
“It’s not just one shearing shed, it’s a widespread problem.”
She said footage of the alleged abuse was obtained legally, and one allegation in another shed was anecdotal.
Sensing a photo opportunity the other woman handed me her phone and asked me to take photos of them.
It was the least I could do.