Over 35 of the largest clothing retailers in the UK have agreed to stop selling angora after PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) released a video showing animals screeching in pain as fur is ripped from their skin on farms in China.
The story made it on to the front page of the Times newspaper over the weekend and has shocked the British public. “Retailers now understand that selling angora is just as unacceptable as selling fur”. Top Shop, Primark, Next, Boden, Whistles, Calvin Klein, New Look, Coast, Miss Selfridge, Warehouse, Marco Polo, Oasis, Esprit, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Evans, boohoo, Tommy Hilfiger and Marks and Spencer are among the brands which have agreed to suspend the use of angora. Online retailer ASOS was the first to do so.
However angora items and clothing containing small quantities of angora remain on the shelves of these leading brands. Mimi Bekhechi, associate director of PETA, said: “Consumers are rightly angry that these companies have halted production but are still profiting from angora at the moment.”
The graphic and unsettling video also shows rabbits tied up with rope, wriggling around desperately trying to escape the brutal shearing with metal scissors.
PETA visited a number of factories in China (which supplies 90% of the world’s angora) and where there are no penalties for abuse of animals on farms and no standards to regulated the treatment of animals. “The charity said hundreds of rabbits were squashed into cages for their entire lives, only being removed every 60 days to have their fur plucked painfully from their bodies. Most failed to survive beyond three years old – often being killed if they lived longer – even though rabbits in the wild live for up to 10 years.”
Fashion designer Stella McCartney blasted the “despicable treatment” and vowed never again to use angora.
One retailer which has yet to reject further use of angora is Zara. SumofUs.org has recently started a petition to encourage Zara to join the rest of the high street and take responsibility for its products.
Last week the Guardian asked whether or not a cruelty free angora rabbit fur trade is compatible with fast fashion. Elsewhere, Starr Vartan, author of ‘The Eco Chick Guide to Life’ blogged about her experience of humane angora on the Huffington Post.
It will be interesting to see what impact PETA’s angora investigation has on the fashion industry in the coming months.