After discussions with PETA, PVH Corp — the parent company of Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, IZOD, ARROW, Van Heusen, and other brands — has confirmed that it is banning and pulling from its shelves any products made with angora.
The announcement follows the release of video footage — shot by a PETA Asia investigator in China, the source of 90 percent of the world’s angora fur — that shows workers violently ripping the fur from the bodies of screaming rabbits who have been tied by all four legs and stretched across a board or even suspended in the air.
“By pulling all angora products from its international websites and shelves, PVH has done the right thing for animals and consumers,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Angora production is cruel, and PETA urges all retailers to follow PVH’s example and show that cruelty to animals has no place in their stores.”
PETA Asia’s investigator visited angora farms in China, where there are no penalties for animal abuse on rabbit farms and no standards that regulate the treatment of animals. The investigator documented rabbits, who are highly sensitive and social animals, lying in shock and isolation inside tiny, filthy wire-bottomed cages after having their fur ripped out. This process is repeated every three months for two to five years before the rabbits’ throats are slit and they are replaced by new rabbits who will suffer the same fate.
PETA is pleased that other companies — including H&M, Topshop, Esprit, and others — have the halted production of angora products, but consumers are angry that these companies have not committed to banning them and have chosen to squeeze every last dime out of these rabbits by continuing to sell off their current stocks of cruelly produced angora. Companies that are truly committed to ethical and responsible business would act swiftly and with pride and remove any angora from their inventories, just as Perrier did when it pulled its water from shelves worldwide after some of it was thought to be contaminated. Other companies, such as Gap Inc., have failed to take any action whatsoever and will bear the brunt of their soon-to-be-ex-customers’ anger.
Source: PETA
