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In two undercover investigations, PETA Asia has revealed the rampant cruelty toward (and the violent killing of) goats within the cashmere industry in China and Mongolia, the world’s top cashmere exporters. No matter where cashmere comes from—or what assurances apparel brand Madewell gives—it’s a product of cruelty.
Video footage shows goats screaming in pain and fear as workers tear out their hair. This abuse takes place even at operations supplying members of the Sustainable Fibre Alliance—a certification body that Madewell hides behind. Later, the animals’ throats are slit in slaughterhouses and they’re left to die in agony. Eyewitnesses discovered goats suffering on numerous farms and herding operations they visited in both countries.
In China and Mongolia—which produce roughly 90% of the world’s cashmere—eyewitnesses saw workers hold down and step on frightened goats, binding the animals’ limbs as they tore out their hair using sharp metal combs. Goats were left with bloody cuts from the hair-removal process and received no pain relief or veterinary care. One worker simply poured wine into an animal’s wound. At one herding operation, an eyewitness found pieces of cashmere with skin still attached, which is additional proof that ripping out goats’ hair is extremely violent.
Cashmere goats deemed no longer profitable endure slow, agonizing deaths. At slaughterhouses in China and Mongolia, eyewitnesses saw workers hit goats in the head with hammers to stun them. These animals were then dragged to the slaughterhouse floor, where their throats were slit in full view of other goats. They were left to bleed out slowly, and some were seen still moving for over four agonizing minutes.
What You Can Do
Goats are natural problem-solvers who can learn new skills by watching others, and each one has a distinct call that helps mothers recognize their kids. These complex, gentle animals are being systematically exploited, abused, and slaughtered in the cashmere industry, and the best way to help them is to refuse to support this cruel industry by never buying anything made of cashmere.
Vegan cashmere fabrics rival their cruel counterparts without harming animals. Many companies—including The North Face, Timberland, ASOS, and Columbia Sportswear Company—banned cashmere after being presented with PETA Asia’s evidence of the cruelty behind it and the environmental consequences of using it.
Please help us urge Madewell to ban it, too.