Forever 21 in PETA’s Crosshairs After Exposés Show Sheep Mutilated on Farms
International Campaign Launched After Two New PETA Asia Investigations Reveal Even More Horrific, Pervasive Abuse in the Wool Industry
For Immediate Release:
November 19, 2018
Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382
Two new PETA video exposés recorded on sheep farms in Australia (the world’s largest exporter of wool and a source of wool used by Forever 21) show workers beating petrified sheep in the face, deliberately mutilating them, and cutting the throats of fully conscious ones—a total horror fest. PETA is now launching a worldwide campaign against Forever 21 to urge it to stop supporting the abusive wool industry.
One of the videos shows a farm manager carving swaths of flesh from lambs’ hindquarters with shears as the animals struggle and cry. It also shows workers cutting and burning off lambs’ tails with a hot knife and no painkillers. A second video, shot by a PETA Asia eyewitness, reveals even more abuse. It shows shearers striking sheep in the face with sharp metal clippers, kneeling on their stomachs, and throwing them about. One worker bragged that he once “hit one [sheep] so hard I knocked it out. F**ked it under the jaw a bit too hard.”
“Forever 21 knowingly supports cruelty to animals by selling clothing that’s a product of violence and extreme suffering,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is appealing to the company to show that it opposes such horrific abuse by going wool-free.”
PETA Asia has asked law-enforcement officials to investigate the findings for violations of each Australian state’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and to file appropriate charges.
PETA says that time’s up for Forever 21. This new video evidence marks the 10th and 11th global exposés of the wool industry that the group has shared with the company, going as far back as 2014. PETA and its affiliates have documented cruelty to sheep on 27 farms in Australia and a total of 99 properties on four continents.
PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear.” For more information, please visit PETA.org.
