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You may have seen “sustainable” or “responsible” cashmere sold online or in stores by companies that like to paint a pretty picture of what happens to animals for cashmere. But as PETA Asia’s footage of herders who supply major global retailers shows, the reality is far different.
Between April 2022 and February 2023, PETA Asia investigators visited cashmere operations in Mongolia—including one herding operation with ties to clothing companies such as Naadam, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Prada, Gucci, Hermès, Chanel, Burberry, and Bottega Veneta.
Investigators discovered the following:
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Workers pinned goats down and ripped out their hair using sharp metal combs while the animals screamed in agony.
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A herder cut open kid goats’ scrotums with an unsterilized knife and pulled out their testicles without pain relief.
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Cashmere that workers ripped out contained pieces of the goats’ skin.
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Workers left goats to suffer from bloody wounds.
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Multiple animals on site were dead, including kid goats who prob died from extreme cold or hunger. 😢
These well-known companies make some of the most expensive products in the world, but there’s nothing fashionable about the deprivation, blood, slaughter, and environmental damage that’s involved in manufacturing items, including cashmere, from animals who just want to live.
Goats’ hair isn’t removed gently for cashmere. No matter what sort of labeling is used, all cashmere comes from goats whose hair was stolen from them before they were slaughtered.
That’s right—the cashmere industry is a slaughter industry. Workers kill goats when they’re no longer seen as profitable at growing cashmere. Investigators documented that workers dragged goats to the kill floor, hit them over the head with a hammer, and slit their throats in full view of other goats. After their throats were cut, some goats kept moving for over four excruciating minutes before dying.
Flawed Standards Support Goats’ Suffering
After PETA Asia first spilled the tea on the cashmere industry, the Sustainable Fibre Alliance (SFA) created an animal welfare standard that companies could follow. But having a “sustainable” label doesn’t change the fact that animals suffer tremendously for the clothing industry. In fact, two of the herding operations seen in the latest footage are SFA-certified.
Just look at what the SFA’s codes of practice guidelines say:
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They recommend that workers comb goats in order to get cashmere, which is terrifying and painful for them.
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They don’t require pain relief for injuries sustained during castration or combing.
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They don’t require that workers treat animals “humanely” before slaughtering them.
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They don’t require that workers stun goats before slaughtering them and let them kill goats through blunt-force trauma.
Producers don’t even have to meet all the codes of practice guidelines to be SFA-certified. 🤔 That’s pretty sus, if you ask us.
Cashmere’s an Eco-Disaster
Goats go hard for mealtime. They need to eat more than 10% of their bodyweight every day and often eat plants down to the root, so farming goats for cashmere decimates plant life. About 80% of the recent decline in grassland vegetation is linked to booming goat populations in Mongolia. 😳
Push These Brands to Ditch Cashmere
Goats are smart, sensitive animals who form strong bonds with each other. Like all animals, they deserve respect and compassion. But clothing companies Naadam, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Prada, Gucci, Hermès, Chanel, Burberry, and Bottega Veneta have ties to one of the herding operations that PETA Asia visited. 😡 As long as these brands keep propping up the cruel cashmere industry, workers will keep abusing and killing goats.
Help goats have the wholesome lives they deserve. Tell these companies and other brands to STOP supporting the cashmere industry’s abuse and slaughter of goats and choose only vegan materials.
Pierre-Alexandre Bapst
Chief Sustainability Officer, Hermès
[email protected]
Pierangelo Fenzi
Head of Product Management, Falconeri
[email protected]
Alessandro Gallina
HR Manager, Lanificio Colombo
[email protected]
Alain Wertheimer
Global Executive Chair, Chanel
[email protected]
Delphine Arnault
Chair and CEO, Dior
[email protected]
Luigi Maramotti
Chair, Max Mara Group
[email protected]
Paolo Zannoni
Executive Vice Chair of the Board and Executive Director, Prada Group
[email protected]
Then, use the form below to contact other brands and urge them to do the same.