PETA Global 2018 Issue 3

PETA’s Corporate Commandos How They’re Taking Down the Mohair Industry

Heroes: © iStock.com/Rawpixel • Woman superhero: © iStock.com/4x6

N o one was talking about mohair. While retailers weighed decisions about the use of fur, leather, exotic skins, angora, and even wool following PETA Asia’s exposés, mohair producers quietly shipped goats’ hair to clothiers and home furnishing companies around the world. Gentle angora goats, whose soft inner coats are used for sweaters, hats, blankets, and more, were forgotten victims— until PETA Asia exposed rampant abuse in the mohair business and changed everything. A PETA Asia eyewitness visited 12 farms in South Africa, where most of the world’s mohair originates, and documented pervasive cruelty to animals on every single one. Farm workers threw goats to the floor, cut off swaths of their skin, and slit their throats while they were still conscious. Workers picked them up by their tails, likely breaking them. One farmer dumped bucks into tanks of cleaning solution and shoved their heads underwater, which he admitted would poison them if they swallowed it. Using tattoo pliers, workers punched holes in the ears of goats, who screamed in agony, which sounds like the screams of human children. Another farmer said that the goats “shout and roll around” when they’re castrated without painkillers because “it’s bloody painful.” But before The Washington Post broke the investigation, before the video hit PETA’s website and was streamed all over the world, and before the farmers even knew that their cruel acts had been caught on camera, the mohair industry had already taken a massive hit. How? PETA’s Corporate Affairs Department had rushed the footage to its allies within major international retailers and encouraged them to ban mohair before the case broke. Soon, the largest clothing companies in the world had agreed, including Inditex, Zara, Forever 21, Topshop, Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta, and H&M. Many people may not realize it, but a significant part of PETA’s success in becoming the largest and most effective animal rights organization in the world has

Fully exploited, from skin to stew

been the work that its corporate liaisons carry out behind the scenes.

This team has developed relationships with many of the world’s largest companies. By showing businesses exactly how their supply chains affect animals and persuading them to make compassionate changes, corporate liaisons cut off abusers’ revenue stream and help companies make the transition to vegan goods and services. These collaborations have resulted in big victories, including the banning of glue traps – which cause mice and other small animals a prolonged death by dehydration or suffocation – in 101 US airports, pledges from more than 40 top global advertising agencies not to use great apes in commercials, and the decimation of the angora rabbit fur industry. Frequently, companies seek out PETA’s help in becoming more animal-friendly. TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site, asked the organization to author a series on humane travel, and PETA was instrumental in the company’s decision to stop offering tickets to numerous animal exhibitions, including elephant rides, tiger photo ops, and swim with-dolphins encounters. If a company is reluctant to improve animal welfare, PETA rallies millions of supporters to contact it, showing that consumers do care about these issues and that they vote with their dollars. As we go to press, 210 companies have banned mohair as a result of PETA Asia’s investigation and PETA’s action alerts to members.

Additionally, PETA often purchases the smallest amount of stock necessary to participate in annual meetings and presents resolutions to advocate for change. After PETA’s efforts at Tesla’s annual meeting, the carmaker announced an end to its use of leather seats in all cars.

Over 200 companies have banned mohair.

Take Action Now Own stock? You can help PETA’s Corporate Affairs Department win more victories for

animals by visiting PETA.org/Stock .

And don’t forget to check labels when you’re out shopping. If an item says “mohair,” don’t buy it. Visit PETA.org/Mohair and ask companies to drop the cruelly produced fiber today.

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GETTING THEIR GOAT