Huge News! M&S to Drop Alpaca Wool

After viewing PETA’s exposé revealing that crying alpacas are roughly sheared and left cut up and bleeding from deep wounds, high street icon Marks & Spencer has confirmed it will “eliminate alpaca [wool] from all future product developments”, including jumpers, beanies, and cardigans.

Marks & Spencer – which has more than 1,400 stores across 57 countries – said the investigation highlighted “concerns around the welfare of animals that are farmed to produce alpaca [wool]” and made the compassionate decision to phase out the fibre’s limited use in its collections.

What’s Wrong With Alpaca Wool?

An undercover investigation into Mallkini – the world’s largest privately owned alpaca farm in Peru – shows that workers held struggling, crying alpacas by the ears as they were roughly shorn with electric clippers, causing some to vomit out of fear.

The quick, rough shearing left the animals with deep wounds, which were sewn up without adequate pain relief.

Workers also slammed pregnant alpacas onto tables. They tied them tightly by the legs into a restraining device reminiscent of a medieval torture rack and pulled hard, nearly wrenching the animals’ legs out of their sockets.

The alpacas struggled, risking and likely incurring injuries. Restraint is highly distressing to these prey animals, who fear that they’re about to be killed.

What You Can Do

The best thing you can do for alpacas is refuse to buy anything made of their wool. Checking the label when you’re shopping is easy. If it includes the word “alpaca”, leave the item on the shelf.

Marks & Spencer joins Esprit, which previously committed to phasing out alpaca wool. Gap Inc (which owns Banana Republic, Athleta, and other brands) and H&M Group (which owns eight brands) have cut ties with Mallkini’s parent company, the Michell Group, yet Anthropologie continues to sell the cruelly obtained material.

Please ask Anthropologie to drop alpaca items immediately in favour of those made of animal-friendly materials:

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