Prada, Gucci, Chanel source cashmere from farms that abuse goats, says PETA

PETA Asia uncovered disturbing details at cashmere farms in Mongolia (Image credit: PETA Asia)

Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Burberry are among the luxury brands that source their cashmere from farms that abuse goats, PETA has said. Disturbing undercover footage released by PETA shows how farm workers pinned down goats to rip out their hair as the animals screamed in pain, castrated them without pain medication and bashed their heads with hammers to kill them once they were no longer considered productive.

Between April 2022 and February 2023, PETA Asia went undercover at cashmere farm operations in Mongolia – including one that has ties with companies like Naadam, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Prada, Gucci, Hermès, Chanel, Burberry, and Bottega Veneta.

“Sustainable" & “responsible” cashmere is a lie.@PETAAsia’s new investigation exposes an operation in @NaadamCashmere’s supply chain tying down screaming goats & ripping out their hair.

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Goats who don’t produce enough cashmere are bludgeoned in the head with a hammer & killed. pic.twitter.com/Tn9lleMfUB

— PETA (@peta) July 11, 2023

Goats were left to suffer from bleeding wounds for days – some died due to cold and extreme hunger, others from being left untreated.

PETA also alleged that “a worker used an unsterilized knife to cut open goats’ scrotums and pulled out kids’ testicles with his bare hands and without pain relief.”

Goats are prey animals. They become fearful and stressed when handled. Yet in the cashmere industry, workers forcibly restrain them and often tie their legs with ropes so that they can’t escape pic.twitter.com/QYCoXEPy84

— PETA UK (@PETAUK) July 11, 2023

“If people are buying cashmere, it is absolutely a product of cruelty,” said PETA spokeswoman Ashley Byrne to The New York Post. “We’ve done other investigations in the past exposing cashmere, but this may be the first time that we are implicating some of the brands that we know are sourcing from Khanbogd Cashmere,” Byrne added, “which obviously is a big operation if it’s sourcing these big fashion houses.”

On its website, Khanbogd Cashmere claims that cashmere production at their facility is cruelty-free, and that animals receive veterinary care.

PETA has called on luxury brands like Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and others to explore vegan alternatives to cashmere.