Clothing/Cosmetics and Animal Abuse Articles from All-Creatures.org

What We Buy Matters to Them

From SpeciesUnite.com
December 2022

Hiding behind our cow leather bag and cashmere sweater is a whole world of animal cruelty. But it doesn't have to be this way. Creative, innovative solutions are on the rise, from apple leather boots to sustainable, faux fur scarfs.

Leather

From cows to crocodiles, the leather industry alone slaughters over one billion animals every year.

Leather is not a ‘by-product’ of the meat industry. it’s a co-product. For "farmed" animals, their skin accounts for a significant portion of the profit made from selling their body parts.

Fur

Over 100 million animals including foxes, rabbits, minks, raccoons, wolves, coyotes, beavers, chinchillas, and dogs are killed each year for their fur alone.

These animals are typically intensively farmed in tiny cramped cages.

Silk

Worms are boiled alive inside their cocoons before they have the chance to emerge as delicate silk moths.

Around 3,000 silkworms are killed to make just one pound of silk cloth.

Wool

Sheep that are used in the commercial wool industry often live in horrific conditions like all other factory-farmed animals.

Sheering is often extremely violent and millions of sheep die each year as the result of wool collection injuries.

Down

Down is the name for the fine fluffy feather that are found on the underside of waterfowl such as ducks, geese & swans.

These animals have their feathers repeatedly ripped out of them while they are alive and conscious.

Cashmere

In the cashmere, cashmere goats are held down so that workers can tear out the animals' hair with sharp metal combs.

When they are no longer profitable, they are typically sent to the slaughterhouse.

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