Paul McCartney: 'I can't bear to send my sheep to the slaughter'
McCartney says he's teased about his aging sheep
- Bruce Springsteen live @ Hard Rock Calling, Hyde Park London
by Adam Tait | Photos by WENN.com
Tags: Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney says that his Scottish farm is full of aging livestock because he can’t bear to send the animals to slaughter.
The former Beatle, who is a vegetarian activist, says he uses his sheep for wool, but can’t bear to have the killed.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Food Programme today (January 27) McCartney said: ‘I live on a sheep farm and we shear the sheep, but they die of old age.
“But it can be embarrassing. People say, ‘Look at the state of your sheep!’ and I say, ‘Yes, they’re very old. There’s only one alternative – to send them off to the knacker’s yard’.
“They die just like we do,” the former Beatle added.
“It’s life, it’s death, it’s what happens. We just give them a good life and I take the wool from them. “
McCartney also spoke about his vegetarian lifestyle and his desire for more people to become less dependent on meat with things like ‘meat-free Mondays’.
“Basically what we’re saying with the meat-free Monday campaign is that out of your seven days, you might think of one day being meat-free. We’re not really pushing it too heavily. We’re not saying you should go veggie, it’s good for you.
“We’re saying ‘just try one day’, and a lot of people say that’s very do-able, a very accessible idea, and they enjoy it.”
Recently McCartney has been lending a hand with an advertising campaign for his late wife Linda’s veggie food range.
McCartney has written a blog about his vegetarianism for the Huffington Post, recalling how he looked down on people who didn’t eat meat in the past, and has provided the music for a new animated TV advert for Linda’s range of veggie foods.
Paul McCartney at the London Olympics Opening Ceremony
McCartney recorded ‘Cut Me Some Slack’ not long ago with reunited Nirvana members Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear, with Grohl claiming it took them just three hours to put the track together.
Apparently the former Nirvana musicians were so in awe at playing with McCartney that it took them a few hours to realise it was the first time they’d played together in 20 years.
Below: Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney in Hyde Park
