London: Following discussions with PETA US, Lochaven of Scotland – a Scottish knitwear company and the original supplier of the Hogwarts uniforms worn in the Harry Potter film series – has just banned cashmere.
A recent PETA Asia video investigation conducted on cashmere farms and in slaughterhouses in China and Mongolia – the two countries responsible for 90% of the world’s cashmere production – showed workers pinning down crying goats as their legs were bent and their hair was torn out with sharp metal combs. In China, goats deemed no longer profitable were slaughtered after workers hit them on the head with a hammer in an attempt to stun them. And in Mongolia, workers dragged them by one leg onto the slaughterhouse floor before slitting their throats. Some animals were recorded moving for minutes afterward.
“Gentle goats’ hair is torn out and the animals are hit with hammers and hacked to death, all for cashmere sweaters and scarves,” says PETA India Corporate Liaison Rajsekhar K. “Lochaven of Scotland has just stood up to cruelty to animals in a huge way, and PETA India is now urging all other clothing companies to follow its compassionate, business-savvy lead and go cashmere-free.”
In addition to banning cashmere, Lochaven of Scotland is also offering several new items made with all-vegan, synthetic fibre and has reduced the wool content of certain popular items. PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. The group notes that while cashmere has the highest environmental impact of any animal-derived fibre, widely available vegan options – such as bamboo, Tencel, hemp, modal, viscose, organic cotton, and soy cashmere (which is a waste byproduct of the production of soy foods) – are warm, stylish, and eco-friendly.
