Forever 21, the global fashion brand based in Los Angeles (USA), has become the latest to stand against animal cruelty by ditching Mohair, a silk-like fabric made by rearing Angora goats.
Before Forever 21, GAP Inc., Inditex (ZARA parent), Arcadia Group that owns eight high-street brands like Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, as well as the eight labels under H&M have also pledged to be mohair-free by 2020.
Animal rights organisation PETA has described the decision as “BREAKING VICTORY”. Notably, it was PETA only which exposed the cruelty to animals in the mohair manufacturing industry. The clip revealed the cruelty bested upon angora goats and their offspring while harvesting mohair.
Shot in South Africa earlier this year, the country that exports over 50 per cent of the world’s mohair, the video shows the brutalisation taking place in 12 farms where workers are dragging goats by their horns and lifting them by their tails as the animals wail loudly in pain.
PETA believes that such practices are a violation of South Africa’s Animals Protection Act, 1962 and appropriate charges must be filed against the offenders.
The mohair industry offers employment to around 30,000 people in South Africa. The PETA video has left the industry in shock as those associated with the industry has claimed that the industry is under threat now. Notably, the mohair industry contributes R 1.5 billion to foreign earnings for the country.
