Imprisoned and Driven Insane
Badgers are intelligent, social animals who might naturally travel for miles with their clan. But on farms, they’re confined to tiny wire cages and endure crowding and filthy conditions.
The stressful environment often leads to injuries and severe psychological disorders such as zoochosis. This condition, common when animals are held in captivity, can result in a wide variety of symptoms, including self-mutilation, vomiting, and bar-biting. During the investigation, a live badger’s foot was chewed off, and the farm owner suggested that this occurred during a fight with another badger who was caged nearby.
Crying Out
Badgers cried out in terror as workers beat them over the head with anything close to hand, including a chair leg, before slitting their throats. One animal was still moving a full minute after his throat was cut – an excruciating death.
Barbaric Practices Go Unpunished
Badgers are hunted in the wild using snares and other cruel methods, even though this practice is illegal under China’s Wildlife Protection Law. There’s virtually no legislation against the abuse of animals on the country’s farms, so none of the violence captured in the footage is against the law.
Needless Killing
Regardless of the law, this cruel slaughter is inhumane and unjustifiable, as brushes with high-quality synthetic bristles are widely available, and more and more leading companies are listening to the demand for ethical, cruelty-free products. In January this year, MAC Cosmetics announced that it’ll discontinue its whole collection of brushes made with animal hair and replace it with tools featuring synthetic bristles.
What You Can Do
- Please call on companies to ban badger hair:
- You can 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. Here are just a few alternatives: Eco Tools, The Body Shop and Kat Von D. You can see the full list here.
