Boars do not die in the making of a hairbrush. Boars live on specially shorn farms. Boar bristles come from special bread of boars in which several times during their life yield their bristles. In fact, many breeders treat boars with the utmost of care. Harvesting boar bristles is very similar to shearing sheep. However, during the shearing process, a boar’s skin may get cut if the processor gets careless, thus traumatizing the boar.
Are boar hair brushes humane?
They raise most boars on humane farms in China, India, and Russia. The primary supplier of boar bristles is China. Now that being said, some farms are better than others in the care of their boars. And this is not to say that boars do not suffer. It is in the best interest of farmers to take relatively good care of their boars so bristles can be harvested multiple times. If you are concerned about cruelty, then look for the cruelty-free label on brushes. According to Stacey, Hair Research Analyst, “Another alternative is to purchase only nylon hairbrushes, therefore you are not supporting the industry at all.“
To find out more about boar brushes you should read my article on this site where I go into detail on how to choose a boar brush.
Boars can be expensive. If a farmer has a gilt and needs one or two boars they can cost between $250 to almost $500 each. This is the typical going price from small stock producers. So when a farmer looks out into the pen or field he or she sees is 500 dollars running around. Most manufactures will tell you how their boar brush bristles are harvested and most will say they do not support any farms that treat boars inhumanely. But if you are a vegetarian, my advice to you is to stay away from boar hairbrushes all together, as they are definitively not vegetarian.
Preparing the animal for clipping
Boars must be prepared before clipping. Usually, the first step is to remove the dirt from the hair first. If this is not done, accelerated blade wear will occur and a reduction in boars clipped between blade sharpening will occur as well. This is usually an exact proportion to the amount of dirt left on the boar. The benefits of dirt removal before clipping cannot be over-emphasized. Any sand or dirt left on the boar will decrease the number of boars that can be clipped between sharpening. Washing the boar with soap and water removes the dirt. However, it’s not practical to use soap, and washing with water is used to remove as much dirt as possible for the hair. The last step right before clipping is to restrain the boar. Very few boars like the sound of a clipper, especially when they feel the vibration on their skin. They can react without warning, thus accidents can happen. Therefore, the boar is restrained properly before clipping.
You should read my article where I go into details and answer the question are boar hair brushes good? since you are reading this article I feel you would benefit.
Summary
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| Boar Brushes |
To quickly summarize for you, as you well know by now from reading this article: boars do not die in the making of a boar brush. Now, please understand not that positively and absolutely all boars do not die for the making of a boar brush. All I am stating is that generally, they do not. And the main reason is just plain economics. If every time a boar brush was made the boar was killed you can see the brush would become ever-increasing expensive. Boars are not cheap. I am sure some boars are harvested for meat and as a by-product of their bristles are also put to good use.
According to Meesh, Hair Product Analyst, “Boar bristle products are definitely not vegan.” So if you are a vegan, you should stay ways from boar brushes. Besides, boar bristles are harvested as humanly as possible with the intent for the boar to be able to produce bristles again. So basically the farmer is not going to want to intentionally harm the boar. However, accidents do happen and the process involves working with live animals and very sharp rotating clippers. So it’s understandable the unexpected does happen, but I feel it’s not intended.
My prediction is boar brushes will continue to rise in prices as synthetic bristles continue to grow in popularity. Besides, new colored bristles are also growing in popularity because it enhances the overall look of the brush. This eventually causes fewer and fewer farmers to harvest boar bristles, thus driving up prices. Now that being said keep in mind I do not expect that to happen overnight but over a much longer period.
I hope this article was of value to you. If you liked this article you also may want to read my article answering the question do boar bristles damage hair?
References
Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay