Fantastic News! UNIQLO Bans Alpaca Wool After PETA US Appeal
After viewing a first-of-its-kind PETA exposé revealing that crying alpacas were roughly shorn, cut open, and left bleeding from deep wounds, Japan-based fashion giant UNIQLO has banned alpaca wool.
This Is Why Selling Alpaca Wool Is Cruel
UNIQLO’s decision will go a long way in helping to prevent vulnerable alpacas from being abused and shorn bloody for their wool.
The PETA US investigation into the world’s largest privately owned alpaca farm, Mallkini in Peru, shows that workers slammed the animals – some of whom were pregnant – onto tables, tied them to a stretching device, and pulled hard, nearly wrenching their legs out of their sockets.
Terrified of being pinned down, the alpacas spat, cried out, and vomited as workers grabbed them by the ears, roughly sheared them, crudely stitched up wounds, and then threw them to the concrete floor.
Producing Alpaca Wool Is Terrible for the Planet
The Higg Materials Sustainability Index ranks alpaca wool as the second most environmentally damaging material after silk, noting that it’s six times as harmful as polyester and more than four times as damaging as modal, viscose, rayon, lyocell, acrylic, and other vegan materials.
Please Ask Anthropologie to Be Next
UNIQLO joins Marks & Spencer and Esprit in banning alpaca fibre. Gap Inc (which owns Banana Republic, Athleta, and other brands) and H&M Group (which owns eight brands) have cut ties with Mallkini’s parent company, the Michell Group, as a first step. UNIQLO previously banned mohair after talks with PETA US.
Please ask Anthropologie to drop alpaca wool immediately in favour of animal-friendly materials:
