Topshop, Primark, Warehouse and Other High-Street Favourites Ban Down Feathers Following PETA Exposé

For Immediate Release:

20 July 2016

Contact:

Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7837 6327, ext 235; [email protected]

TOPSHOP, PRIMARK, WAREHOUSE AND OTHER HIGH-STREET FAVOURITES BAN DOWN FEATHERS FOLLOWING PETA EXPOSÉ

List of Retailers That Refuse to Sell the Feathers Ripped out of Struggling Birds by the Fistful Grows

London – In the wake of a PETA US and PETA Asia exposé showing that workers in China – the source of 80 per cent of the world’s down – pin geese down and rip their feathers out as they struggle and scream, leaving the animals with gaping, bloody wounds, high-street favourites Topshop, Whistles, Miss Selfridge, Warehouse and White Stuff have promised to keep down out of all their future collections.  PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – has also received down-free pledges from Hobbs, Dr Martens, Oasis, Primark, Wallis, Boohoo, and ASOS (own brand).

“Just as they did with cruelly obtained angora wool, forward-thinking fashion brands are jumping to meet the demands of today’s compassionate consumers, who want nothing to do with an industry that rips out live birds’ feathers”, says PETA Senior Manager of Corporate Projects Yvonne Taylor. “PETA will continue to work with retailers across the UK to ditch feathers in favour of natural or high-tech synthetic fillers that are hypoallergenic, warm, eco-friendly and infinitely kinder to birds.”

All the farms in the exposé have connections to retail suppliers that are certified by the so-called Responsible Down Standard (RDS), which prohibits live plucking of geese – raising concerns about the legitimacy of the RDS certification.

The down industry also helps support producers of foie gras – which is made by forcing tubes down the throats of geese and ducks and pumping grain into their stomachs until their livers become enlarged and diseased – as the feathers of many of the birds on foie gras farms are sold for down.

In addition to the many top brands that have dropped down, the glamorous Lucy Watson recently starred in a new   promoting “Comfort Without Cruelty” with feather-free bedding and apparel.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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