A Look Inside the Angora Fur Industry

As shoppers and retailers gear up for the busiest shopping time of the year, PETA Asia is unveiling never-before-seen investigative footage of angora fur farms. The video footage reveals routine cruelty to angora rabbits, whose long, soft fur is in high demand for sweaters and accessories. The investigator filmed workers violently ripping the fur from the animals’ sensitive skin as they screamed in pain. After this ordeal, which the rabbits endure every three months, many of them appeared to go into severe shock. If the rabbits are still alive after two to five years of this trauma, workers slit their throats and sell their carcasses.

Rabbits who have their fur cut or sheared also suffer: during the cutting process, their front and back legs are usually tightly tethered – a terrifying experience for any prey animal – and the sharp cutting tools inevitably wound them as they struggle desperately to escape.

In China, the world’s top producer of angora, there are no penalties for abusing animals on fur farms and no standards to regulate the treatment of the animals. When you buy a sweater, hat or other product that contains angora, the fur will most likely have originated in China, even if the finished product was assembled elsewhere.

Rabbits are gentle, intelligent and socially complex animals with individual personalities, just like dogs and cats. In their natural habitat, they live in scrupulously clean burrows and spend their time foraging for fresh, leafy food and interacting with members of their warren.

How You Can Help Rabbits

Please pledge to leave angora out of your wardrobe and instead choose from the many warm and stylish cruelty-free materials available today. Please also take a few minutes to share this video with family and friends.

Posted by Jason Baker