H&M CEO to Receive ‘Bloody Duck Foot’ and ‘Axe’ in Protest of Down Sales

A pointed message is on its way to H&M Group CEO Helena Helmersson over the company’s support of the down industry, which cuts the feet off live, struggling birds and hacks at their necks with axes before their feathers are stuffed into jackets. The package – containing a fake bloodied duck foot and axe – will include a letter from PETA’s founder Ingrid Newkirk reminding the H&M executive about investigative footage that shows the cruelty animals endure at these operations and asking the company to ditch down and leave birds in peace.

We hope this “bloody” delivery will serve to remind H&M that its choice to continue using down is helping to prop up an industry that mutilates and cruelly slaughters birds.

‘Grim Reaper’ delivers the message ‘Down is Dead’ to H&M’s flagship store in Stockholm as part of international action from PETA entities to mark Feather-Free Friday, which falls on 24^th November.

H&M’s Links to Duck Slaughter

Contrary to H&M’s claims that “no animals should be harmed” in the making of its products, PETA Asia’s 13-month investigation into duck farms and slaughterhouses across Vietnam – which provide misleadingly named “responsible” down to suppliers, including one that listed H&M as a customer – revealed ducks suffering from gaping and bloody wounds inside dirty sheds and lots strewn with faeces and birds being stabbed in the neck.

‘Responsible’ Down Standards Don’t Protect Birds

At another operation in Vietnam that was certified by the Responsible Down Standard, ducks’ feet were cut off while they were still conscious.

PETA Asia also investigated “responsible” down farms in Russia, where a worker was seen stretching the necks of geese across a stump and repeatedly hacking at them with a dull axe while the birds shrieked and struggled.

H&M has removed the “responsible” down label from its online listings – indicating that it knows the designation is a sham – but it continues to sell down jackets.

Ducks Need Your Help

Always check the label, and never buy jackets or other items filled with down. Instead, browse the many fashionable options filled with high-tech vegan materials that are better for birds and the environment.

Please also show the investigations above to your friends and urge them to be kind to ducks this winter by not buying down.