Compassionate decision to avoid all animal materials follows horrific reports about the international wool industry
Amsterdam – After PETA informed Miss Green of shocking, systematic mistreatment in the wool industry and shared information about environmentally-friendly, non-animal yarns, the Dutch ethical fashion brand confirmed that it no longer produces articles made from wool or other animal materials.
“We were already phasing out the use of wool with our winter 2018 collection,” says José Koopman, sustainability manager at Miss Green. “[We use] 100 percent animal-free materials. The new winter collection 2019, which we presented at the international fashion fairs last month, also contains only animal-free materials and therefore no percentage of wool.”
“PETA celebrates Miss Green’s merciful and progressive decision to turn its back on wool and opt for 100 percent vegan fabrics,” says PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk. “Compassionate consumers agree that no sweater or scarf is worth kicking, beating and killing sheep on the shaving floor, and we ask other retailers to follow Miss Green’s forward-looking example.”
Since 2014, PETA and its international sister organizations have released 11 video reports on 99 sheep shaving facilities on four continents, including Europe, and systematic mistreatment was found at every company. The most recent reports – shot at sheep farms in Australia, the world’s largest wool exporter – reveal that workers slaughtered terrified sheep, mutilated them, and cut the throats of fully conscious animals that were considered unprofitable. One sheep kicked for almost a minute after the sheep farm manager cut her throat, and he said some kept kicking for a few minutes.
The wool industry is also harmful to the environment: manure from animals in livestock farming has contributed significantly to the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, large-scale grazing has led to changes in vegetation and soil erosion, and droppings and ‘immersion baths’ (a toxic substance in which sheep are dipped to prevent parasites) pollute the local waterways. In the 2017 ‘Pulse of the Fashion Industry’ report, wool was in fourth place on the list of materials with the greatest environmental impact per kilo from cradle to gate.
PETA – whose motto is in part, “animals are not ours to wear” – calls on Forever 21 to drop wool.
For more information, visit PETA.nl.
