PETA AU Global 2021 Issue 1

PETA Protesters Unite!

Sheep: © iStock.com/IRYNA KURILOVYCH • Torn paper: © iStock.com/yasinguneysu • Sheep and lamb: © iStock.com/pelooyen

LET’S END THE SALE OF SKIN, WOOL, AND HAIR

SAVED!

M ost people never wonder what becomes of the sheep behind their woolly sweaters. Animals in the Australian wool industry – where most wool comes from – usually end up at the mercy of the live-export trade, a one-way ticket on a filthy, jam-packed ship to a grisly death in the Middle East. Jason Baker, PETA’s senior vice president of international campaigns, was fortunate enough to be able to help two sheep escape that fate. He was documenting conditions at a sale yard when a pair of frail sheep caught his eye. They were so emaciated that their hip and rib bones protruded, and what little fleece they had left was filthy and spattered with blood from cuts and gashes. He slipped money to a worker and whisked them away to a veterinarian. Bound for a sanctuary, Hope and John, as they were named, would receive TLC from here on out instead of facing terror on the high seas. Helping Sheep Jump Ship

E very year, billions of thinking, feeling animals, who have suffered through a miserable life, endure a violent death in the clothing industry. Urban Outfitters, Inc., which owns Anthropologie and Free People, still sells racks of clothes made from hides and hair, despite already offering luxurious, animal-free textiles as alternatives. PETA has shown

the company the atrocious abuse that animals – from alpacas and geese to sheep – experience in the clothing industry. One wonders just how many investigations it will take for retailers to stop stocking anything stolen from an unwilling animal. The answer lies with consumers. Oust Alpaca Knitwear Young people in particular said, “No more alpaca!” when a disturbing undercover PETA investigation in Peru revealed that workers on the world’s largest privately owned alpaca farm – which supplies alpaca fleece to Anthropologie and Free People – hit, kicked, and tied animals down to shear them for their wool. Pregnant alpacas were slammed onto tables, many of them crying out and vomiting in fear. Terrified, they were stretched out using devices that looked like medieval torture racks, and many were left bleeding from deep, painful wounds caused by aggressive shearing. Kicked in the Head for Wool Don’t ever think wool requires “just a haircut” for sheep or is “no big whoop” to get! In every exposé of more than 116 sheep-shearing operations on four continents, PETA or its affiliates found gentle sheep cut, beaten, stomped on, kicked in the face, or even killed as a result of shearers’ temper tantrums. Shearers – paid to handle as many sheep as possible in the shortest amount of time – often leave animals injured, bleeding, and scared out of their wits. Deep cuts get crudely sewn up with no pain relief . No Mo’ Mohair, and Cut Out Cashmere On factory farms in South Africa, where long-haired goats are raised for mohair, PETA Asia filmed workers dragging the animals across the floor, picking them up by the tail – causing enormous pain and perhaps dislocations – and mutilating them with knives and pliers . Final stop: painful backyard slaughter.

uncovered “cashmere” goats screaming in pain and fear as workers held them down, twisted their limbs, and tore out their hair with sharp metal combs – again, with absolutely no pain relief. After wringing every last bit of profit from them, workers drag the goats into a slaughterhouse. In China, investigators documented goats hit on the head with a hammer, which left them reeling but conscious. In Mongolia, investigators documented workers cutting goats’ throats and leaving them to bleed out on the floor, without any attempt to stun them first. Ditch Down, and Lose the Leather PETA’s down investigations have exposed that geese are sometimes “live-plucked,” i.e., kept alive and plucked over and over again, leaving them shaking and bloody each time. The terrified birds are restrained, sometimes with a human’s entire bodyweight on their slim necks. When the birds get older, they’re shipped to slaughter and hung upside down. Their throats are cut, and they’re dunked – often while still conscious and struggling – into the scalding-hot water of the defeathering tank. Who wants cruelty like that in a coat? As for cows, numerous PETA exposés in multiple countries show that they’re burned, electroshocked, beaten, and slaughtered for leather bags, coats, and shoes – as are dogs in China. Give Silk the Slip Silkworms have central nervous systems, respond to stimuli, and startle when surprised. Yet billions of these tiny beings are boiled alive or gassed inside their cocoons every year to make silk clothing and accessories. Silk lingerie should give anyone the creeps. Take Action Now Keep your closet cruelty-free, and please visit PETAAU.vg/UrbanOutfitters to urge Urban Outfitters brands to sell only animal-free fashion!

Take Action Now Never, ever buy wool. Instead, choose vegan fabrics – such as bamboo, cotton, or recycled

polyester – which wick away water, dry faster, and are better for the environment. Itching to do more? Visit PETA.org/MobileAlerts to get action alerts sent right to your phone!

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PETA Asia investigations in China and Mongolia

11 Global

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TRAGICALLY HIP