Proctor & Gamble Bans Badger-Hair Shaving Brushes After PETA Exposé

First-Ever Eyewitness Investigation Reveals Badgers Are Violently Killed on Chinese Farms

For Immediate Release:
September 19, 2018

Contact:
Moira Colley 518-466-6815

After PETA shared a horrifying video exposé of China’s badger-brush industry with Procter & Gamble, the parent company of The Art of Shaving immediately banned badger hair and has committed to switching to synthetic bristles.

PETA’s eyewitness investigation revealed that “protected” badgers are illegally captured in the wild using snares and other cruel methods and others are bred and confined to small cages on farms before being violently killed. Badger hair is often used for paint, makeup, and shaving brushes sold by companies around the world.

Procter & Gamble confirms its compassionate decision in the following statement: “When PETA reached out to P&G about this report on the badger hair industry, we were very disturbed to learn of these terrible practices. While we have no evidence that any of our suppliers are engaging in these types of methods, we believe we can play a role in helping to stop such practices. With this in mind, we have decided to stop sourcing badger hair immediately in our The Art of Shaving business. In addition, while we finish selling our existing inventory of shaving brushes, we will accelerate our efforts to develop even better alternatives for the future. These commitments are in keeping with P&G’s ongoing efforts to pursue non-animal alternatives.”

PETA’s exposé—which is the first of its kind and encompasses Chinese badger-hair farms and live markets visited as recently as August—shows workers beating crying badgers over the head with anything they can find, including a chair leg, before slitting their throats. PETA documented that one animal continued to move for a full minute after his or her throat was cut and another was missing a foot, which the farm owner attributed to a fight with a badger caged nearby. Animals on the farms were held in tiny wire cages exposed to the elements, and the stressful conditions often led to injuries and severe psychological disorders.

“Procter & Gamble acted quickly and compassionately to stop buying badger hair after learning that the gentle animals were beaten, cut open, and left to die,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is appealing to consumers to choose soft and luxurious synthetic brushes and will be approaching all companies that still use badger hair to urge them to do the same.”

Badgers are extremely social animals who, in nature, construct elaborate underground burrow systems, some of which are centuries old and have been inhabited by many generations of the same badger clan. They are fastidious and have separate rooms for sleeping and giving birth as well as designated outside “bathroom” areas.

Synthetic shaving brushes are readily available online and in department stores.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—is now calling on Baxter of California, Blick Art Materials, and The New York Shaving Company to follow Procter & Gamble’s lead and ban badger-hair products.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.