Is banning the solution when it comes to animal welfare?

Angora rabbits having their fur ripped off, rather than sheared off. Ducks and geese being plucked alive so that their feathers grow out again, and they can endure the same pain twice. 

These two examples are some of the worst examples of horrific treatment of animals in the fashion industry that have surfaced in recent years. Other cases regarding animal welfare (or the lack thereof) include mulesing (removal of a strip of skin from the breech of a sheep to prevent fly attacks), rough handling of sheep that are being shorn, and many other examples. 

Examples like the above come as a shock to us, both as producers of fashion but also as consumers and human beings.

I learned as a kid that you should always look after those who are weaker than you. Adults should look after children, and we should all look after animals. And these examples go against everything I believe in – and probably what you believe in as well. 

Keeping calm in difficult situations

We react with a justifiable outrage when we hear these examples of torture of animals, but is banning e.g. angora wool really the solution?

I vote that we try to keep calm, as much as possible, and take a look at all the options before we start banning. Keeping calm when you are outraged is very difficult, but it’s the best option in order to make the right decisions.

Remember the examples of child labour that surfaced especially in the 90s? Of course, you do. When the first examples came to light, there was a panic reaction in the industry, and many producers banned the factories that used child labour. 

But the consequence of this was that the children found other (more horrible) work, such as separating trash at landfills... They did not attend school, as many somewhat naïve people may have thought they would, because their family needed their income to survive… By banning these factories, we actually made the problem worse.

Banning is rarely the solution, and this, in my opinion, also goes for animal welfare issues.

The case of cute animals

There is a tendency that cases with cute, fluffy animals get a lot more attention than ‘normal’ farm animals. 

Angora rabbits are cute and fluffy, pigs do not look very cute (at least not the grown ones) but why is the mistreatment of pigs in the farming industry not met with the same rage? Their skin is also used to make leather boots.

Recently, a video surfaced with mistreatment of mohair goats, and it sparked an outcry and banning of mohair, but a few years earlier a similar video had surfaced, only then the animals were regular sheep (regular wool), and it didn’t get merely as much attention (was it too expensive to ban?). 

Leather is often a biproduct from food production, and it would make a larger impact for animal welfare in general to work for better conditions in the meat industry than to blindly ban it. 

I’m not saying that you can’t do both, but keep your cool and make informed, well-considered decisions, not only based on the cuteness of the animals in question.  

So, what are our options when it comes to animal welfare?

Are vegan leather or fake fur the option?

Well, often vegan leather and fake fur are PU or PVC based, which means that basically they’re made from plastic, which will never leave our planet once it’s produced. Therefore, in my opinion, they are not a good alternative to natural leather or fur. We shouldn’t let vegan fashion become plastic fashion!

What about other types of vegan leather?

There are alternative types of vegan leather, such as leather made from pineapple leaves or apple peels. However, these types of leather still need some development before they can be used in large quantities. Fortunately, a lot of research is going on at the moment, and the future looks exciting!

What do you mean – should we continue to use animal-based fabrics?

Of course, there are some negative consequences of using animal-based fabrics. If you disregard the obvious dilemma of whether it’s ethical responsible to use anything animal-based, there is still the question of how we treat the animals that are being used in the fashion industry. We need to have equal standards regarding animal welfare across the world, and we need serious certifications in the area. 

There is also the issue of pollution - how much the manufacturing process of e.g. turning skin into leather pollute. This is something which should be looked at as well if we want to continue to use animal-based products. 

Of course, there are some issues that should be taken into consideration. But what I’m arguing is that we stop the panic compliance, as I call it, and if we see something, we don’t like, don’t just turn your head and ban it. Do something about it! 

Just like with child labour, it’s much better to work with the factories to find solutions, rather than taking the ‘easy’ solution and ban them all together. We, as an industry, need to work together and demand certifications as well as more traceability in this area.