Progress! M&S, Next, and Primark Among Brands Banning Mohair After PETA Asia Investigation
A disturbing PETA Asia investigation that revealed the abuse of goats in the mohair industry in South Africa – the source of more than 50 per cent of the world’s mohair – has already prompted several international brands to pledge to ban the cruelly obtained material. Now, after being contacted by PETA, Marks & Spencer, Next, and Primark have joined them.
The investigation, which is the first of its kind and encompasses 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.
Farmers admitted that after shearing, many goats die from exposure to the cold wind and rain – 40,000 reportedly died from 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 the investigation, numerous other brands – including Mango, 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.
PETA US has asked law-enforcement agencies to file charges, as appropriate, for what it believes are violations of South Africa’s Animals Protection Act, 1962. An investigation is underway.
What You Can Do
Many brands have now pledged to drop mohair, but Forever 21 has yet to join them. Please send a message to the company’s founder and CEO, Do Won Chang, to ask him to do the right thing for goats immediately.
