More and More Brands Are Ditching Brushes Made With Badger Hair

Kent Brushes is the latest brand to announce it will stop using badger hair in its products following pressure from PETA supporters in response to the release of the horrifying findings of PETA Asia’s eyewitness investigation into China’s badger-brush industry.

In a statement, Kent Brushes announced that “a beautifully crafted range of fully synthetic shaving brushes will be launched this year. Designed to match and better the attributes of the more traditional badger shaving brush. We no longer purchase badger bristle and our aim is to be badger-free by 2020”.

Kent Brushes joins Czech & Speake, Floris London, Penhaligon’s, Procter & Gamble, Bonanza, and Beau Brummell in pledging to ditch badger-hair shaving and make-up brushes. As the brand is the world’s oldest brush manufacturer, its decision to reject these hideous brushes is sure to influence other companies to follow its compassionate lead.

PETA Asia’s investigation – the first of its kind – revealed that “protected” badgers are illegally hunted in the wild using snares and other cruel methods and that others are bred and confined on farms before being violently killed. Their hair is commonly used as bristles in brushes for shaving, make-up, and painting.

Workers were seen beating crying badgers over the head with anything they could find, including a chair leg, before slitting their throats. Eyewitnesses documented that one animal continued to move for a full minute after his throat was cut and that another was missing a foot, which the farm owner attributed to a fight with a badger caged nearby. Animals on the farms were held in cramped wire cages exposed to the elements, and the stressful conditions often led to injuries and severe psychological disorders.

Badgers are extremely social animals who, in nature, construct elaborate underground burrow systems, some of which are centuries old and have been inhabited by many generations of the same badger clan. They’re meticulous animals who have separate rooms for sleeping and for giving birth as well as designated outdoor “bathroom” areas. Their cruel slaughter is completely inhumane and unjustifiable.

What You Can Do

• Help end the needless suffering of badgers by buying only brushes made with high-performing synthetic bristles, which are cruelty-free and in many ways superior to their animal-hair counterparts. Check out EcoTools, The Body Shop, and Kat Von D, which all offer such alternatives. You can see the full list of animal-friendly make-up brushes here.
• Please also share this investigation with your family and friends: