A Step in the Right Direction: schuh Parent Company Genesco Says No to Cashmere

London – After learning from PETA US that goats scream in pain and fear as they’re tied down and their hair is torn out in the cashmere industry, Genesco, which owns schuh among other brands and has stores in the UK and Ireland, has confirmed that it no longer uses cashmere. To celebrate, the footwear and accessories retailer will receive a box of delicious vegan chocolates from PETA US.

“Due to Genesco’s decision, many goats will be spared the agonising ordeal of shearing,” says PETA Vice President of Corporate Projects Yvonne Taylor. “PETA is urging all fashion companies to follow Genesco’s compassionate, business-savvy lead and drop cruel cashmere.”

A PETA Asia video investigation into the cashmere industry in China and Mongolia, which together are responsible for 90% of the world’s cashmere, revealed that terrified goats were pinned to the ground while workers ripped out their hair with sharp metal combs so violently that the animals screamed in pain and sustained bloody cuts. Goats deemed no longer profitable were killed. At a slaughterhouse in China, workers hit them on the head with a hammer in an attempt to stun them. And in Mongolia, workers dragged them by one leg onto the slaughterhouse floor before slitting their throats in full view of other goats.

Vegan replacements for animal-derived knitwear include soya cashmere, recycled materials, and organic cotton, hemp, and bamboo as well as modal, Tencel, and viscose made from sustainably harvested wood.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, or Instagram.

Contact:
Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7923 6244; [email protected]

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