Down-Industry Horrors Exposed – Birds Electrocuted, Their Throats Slit

As more and more shoppers refuse to buy products for which live birds’ down feathers were yanked out, companies have begun trying to reassure customers by making claims stating that no birds have been live-plucked in their supply chain. But new undercover footage released by PETA Germany takes people inside an abattoir where geese and ducks are killed for their feathers – and reveals why down can never be considered “ethical” or “responsible”.

This never-before-seen footage from Poland – the world’s second-largest exporter of down – shows workers handling ducks and geese roughly, kicking them, electrocuting them, and cutting their throats, likely while many were still conscious.

Please watch the eye-opening footage and then take action to help stop this abuse.

Down Is Always a Product of Animal Suffering

PETA Germany released footage from inside a Polish abattoir, an operation that specialises in killing ducks and geese for their feathers and flesh. Their feathers are then sold to fashion and bedding manufacturers all over the world.

Eyewitnesses filmed abattoir workers grabbing birds out of cramped, filthy transport cages by the legs and carrying them upside down, in direct violation of the Council of Europe’s handling recommendations.

Many ducks and geese hit their heads on the grate flooring during the fast, careless unloading process. Others were dropped and ran around, panicking, disregarded for several minutes. Some hid beneath the transport trucks, and no one worried that they could be injured or killed when the trucks moved.

One worker gives an escaped duck a powerful kick across the pavement.

After Botched Stunning, Birds Struggle While Bleeding to Death

Ducks and geese were slammed into shackles upside down on a conveyor belt as they flapped wildly, either out of pain or in a desperate attempt to escape.

They were then dragged through a tub of electrified water meant to stun them before slaughter. But many birds were still wildly beating their wings and trying to lift their heads even after their throats were cut, indicating that they were probably still conscious and able to feel pain as they slowly bled to death.

Birds Forced to Live Amid Faeces and Urine in Cramped Enclosures

The eyewitnesses also visited farms where ducks and geese are raised. Crammed by the thousands into dirty sheds or enclosures, birds were forced to stand in their own excrement and likely suffered from painful urine scald on their feet and ammonia burns on their eyes. They were denied any water to swim in – a basic necessity for waterfowl– and had no way to clean themselves.

Geese and ducks are also used for meat, so they’re usually bred to grow much larger and faster than they would in nature, and many become crippled under their own bodyweight. Keeping sick birds in crowded, unsanitary conditions creates the perfect breeding grounds for dangerous zoonotic diseases like bird flu.

The Down Industry Exposed – Again

PETA entities’ eight previous exposés of the down industry have revealed similar abuse at farms and abattoirs around the world. In 2012, PETA US released footage of workers tearing live geese’s feathers out, a process known as “live plucking”. In the years that followed, companies faced a loss of confidence by consumers, so they came up with international standards claiming to ensure “responsible”, “non live-plucked” down.

But when PETA US and PETA Asia went inside farms connected to these certified and “responsible” companies, they uncovered shocking cruelty that cast significant doubt on down standards.

Investigators spoke with suppliers to these deceptively marketed “responsible” and “non live-pluck” companies, and they admitted to buying and selling live-plucked down. One buyer even bragged about misleading customers, and an industry representative remarked, “We advertised that it’s all plucked after slaughter – nobody dares to buy it if you say it’s live-plucked”. Their solution? Mislabel their live-plucked down as “non live-plucked” so that people will buy it.

And as PETA Germany’s newly released footage shows, just because birds weren’t live-plucked doesn’t mean that there wasn’t any cruelty.

Legal Action Taken

In cooperation with a Polish lawyer, PETA Germany analysed the recordings from the abattoir and checked them against the standards of Polish law. In doing so, they found considerable violations of animal welfare regulations, which they reported to the responsible veterinary office and public prosecutor’s office.

The latter has taken up the investigation, however, the result is still pending. The veterinary office inspected the abattoir on the basis of PETA Germany’s complaint and sent its findings to the local police.