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PETA Asia went undercover in Mongolia to expose lies about “sustainable” and “responsible” cashmere, including those of an operation with ties to Louis Vuitton, Dior, Prada, Gucci, Hermès, Chanel, Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Naadam, and other brands. The findings reveal that – no matter what sort of labelling is used – all cashmere comes from goats whose hair was violently stolen from them before they were slaughtered.
Combing Is a Painful, Prolonged Process
Goats screamed as workers tied them down by their legs and pulled the hair out of their sensitive skin with sharp metal combs – a terrifying process that usually takes an hour per goat. Hand-combing is done only to make money, since cashmere goats would shed their coats naturally.
Kid goats cried out while they were castrated without pain relief, as a worker cut their scrotum with an unsterilised knife and yanked out their testicles with his bare hands. One goat sustained a bloody wound during combing, and an investigator found pieces of cashmere with skin on it. Another goat was seen with a bleeding penis. An investigator found a goat who appeared sick or injured while limping around in a pen. The animal was found dead the following day. And kids, like many others, died during the harsh Mongolian winter. A contact from a herding family also told PETA Asia investigators that smaller goats die from being trampled by larger ones as they rush for shelter at night, when it can get as cold as minus 30 degrees Celsius.
Workers Bash Goats’ Heads In With Hammers
What consumers may not realise is that the cashmere industry is a slaughter industry – workers kill goats when they’re no longer considered productive enough for this trade.
Investigators visited abattoirs, where they documented that workers drag cashmere goats to the kill floor, hit them on the head with a hammer, and cut their throats. Workers killed them in full sight of other goats. Afterwards, some goats continued to move for over four agonising minutes after their throats had been cut before finally dying.
Cashmere Production Devastates the Environment
Goats must consume more than 10% of their body weight in roughage every day, and they often eat plants down to the root. About 80% of the recent decline in vegetation on grassland is attributable to the explosion of goat and other ruminant animal populations in Mongolia, and the United Nations Development Programme found that 90% of Mongolia consists of dry, vulnerable land that’s under increasing threat of desertification.
Goats don’t deserve to have their hair torn out, their heads bashed in with hammers, or their testicles ripped off.
Tell Louis Vuitton, Dior, Prada, Gucci, Hermès, Chanel, Burberry, Naadam, Bottega Veneta, and other brands to choose only vegan materials and STOP supporting the exploitation and slaughter of goats.