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A new PETA video exposé of the mohair industry in South Africa – the source of more than 50% of the world’s mohair – has prompted several big British and international brands to pledge to ban the material – and now Marks & Spencer, Next, Primark and Mango have joined them.
‘These brands recognise that no jumper or scarf is worth the blood, fear, and cries of gentle baby goats – and all other retailers should, too. PETA is reminding shoppers to check clothing labels carefully and to leave any item with mohair in it on the rack.’
YVONNE TAYLOR
PETA’s director of corporate projects
Click here to view the age-restricted video on YouTube.
PETA’s exposé, which is the first of its kind and covers 12 farms visited in January and February of this year, shows workers dragging goats by the horns and legs and lifting them off the floor by the tail, which could break their spines.
Goat kids who were being shorn for the first time cried out in fear. Afterwards, workers threw them across the floor. PETA US has asked law-enforcement agencies to file charges, as appropriate, for what the group believes are violations of South Africa’s Animals Protection Act, 1962. An investigation is underway.
PETA notes that many goats’ sensitive ears were mutilated with pliers, which left them screaming in pain. Shearers – who are paid by volume, not by the hour – worked quickly and carelessly, leaving goats cut up and bleeding. Workers roughly stitched them up without giving them any pain relief.
Farmers admitted that after shearing, many goats die from exposure to the cold wind and rain – 40,000 reportedly died of exposure across South Africa in just one weekend.
Unwanted goats also died in agonising ways: on one farm, a worker slowly cut the throats of fully conscious goats with a dull knife and then broke their necks, hacking one animal’s head right off. Other goats were hauled to an abattoir, where they were electrically shocked, hung upside down and slashed across the throat.
As a result of PETA’s exposé, numerous other brands – including Monsoon Accessorize, The White Company, Lazy Oaf, Fat Face, Topshop, Gap, H&M, and Zara – have agreed to end the use of mohair in their products.
Click here to find out why cork could be the best antidote to fast fashion
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