Warning: Graphic
Incredible news! Over 277,000 of you have signed the petition
urging ZARA to take a stand against animal abuse, and stop the sourcing and
production of angora items. This follows an absolutely brilliant week
where even more UK retailers took action -- Asos, Topshop, Whistles, Next and
Primark have all recently halted the production of angora. And SumOfUs members have attracted a tidal
wave of press attention, from the Los Angeles Times to the Huffington
Post.
Unfortunately, our petition to ZARA seems
to be falling on deaf ears. It is
still refusing to take action, it is still selling angora, and it continues to
profit from the suffering of angora rabbits.
A spokesperson for Inditex (the company
that owns Zara) said in a statement:
“We would like to point out that Zara is not a
direct buyer of angora.. which [is] sourced by our ready to wear garments
suppliers; consequently, we do not have direct commercial relations with the
companies that carry out the production of those raw materials.”
Essentially, ZARA is saying it does not carry
out inspections of its angora suppliers and the farms they source
from.
This isn’t good enough. We need to let ZARA
know that we won’t accept the cruel treatment of angora rabbits for profit.
We need to ramp up the pressure now so
that it hears us.
You can also call ZARA's headquarters
at +44 0207 851 4300 (UK) or +1 212 355 1415 (US) to demand that it stops the
production of angora items.
Finally, you can email ZARA's PR team
at comunicacion@inditex.com and
let them know that we won’t accept the torture of angora rabbits.
The SumOfUs.org community has been
instrumental to the progress we're making.
Thank you for keeping up the fight,
Hanna, Johnny, Paul, Kaytee and the team at
SumOfUs.org
P.S. If you can, send us a photo of you delivering the letter to reportback@sumofus.org. Thank you!
***********
More information:
Workers in China were secretly filmed by PETA, plucking angora rabbits of all their long, soft fur while they scream. Plucking a rabbit without causing harm takes up to two weeks of gently removing the loosened hair, but here it takes only a few, violent minutes. After this tortuous experience, which the rabbits endure every three months, many of them appeared to go into shock, lying motionless inside their tiny, filthy cages.
Ninety percent of angora fur comes from China, where there are no penalties for abuse of animals on farms and no standards to regulate the treatment of the animals. The reason for this cruelty comes down to profit, pure and simple. Angora has a trade value of £22 to £28 per kilogram, but the longer hair that comes from plucking, as opposed to shearing, can sell for more than double that.
The big retailers have a responsibility to tell their suppliers that they won’t accept this brutal treatment of angora rabbits. H&M have acted, saying in a statement that it will step up inspections of its sub-suppliers before selling angora again. In the meantime, customers can take back their H&M angora products for a full refund. H&M isn’t the only one -- it joins Topshop, New Look, Esprit, Asos, and C&A. If they can act, Zara can too. But right now, its website is full of angora sweaters, gloves, hats, and scarfs. Zara thinks we don’t care where our clothes from, or how they are made. We need to prove it wrong.
Yes! Sign me up to drop off a letter at a ZARA store.
Check out some press on this issue:
Animal-welfare activists target Zara over angora
fur, Los Angeles Times, December 16
Gap, Zara Continue Selling Angora Products Despite Disturbing Fur Farm Video, Huffington Post, December 16
Zara Urged To Join ASOS, Topshop And Primark In Ban On Angora Products, Marie Claire UK, December 17
Gap, Zara Continue Selling Angora Products Despite Disturbing Fur Farm Video, Huffington Post, December 16
Zara Urged To Join ASOS, Topshop And Primark In Ban On Angora Products, Marie Claire UK, December 17
No comments:
Post a Comment