(Video) Gap, H&M, GUESS Exposed: Ducks Mutilated and Slaughtered for Down

For Immediate Release:
November 22, 2022

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

A new PETA Asia investigation into Vina Prauden—a Vietnamese down supplier for Gap Inc., H&M, UNIQLO, Lacoste, and other brands—reveals that ducks’ throats were slit while they were still conscious and that at facilities that provide down for Nam Vu—a supplier to GUESS and other companies—workers chopped off live ducks’ feet, among other atrocities. Down from these facilities is later sold under the deceptively named “Responsible Down Standard,” which does nothing to stop suppliers from harming animals and serves only to dupe well-meaning shoppers. Photos are available here, and broadcast-quality footage is available for download here.

At a slaughterhouse that provides down for Vina Prauden, PETA Asia investigators documented a worker violently grabbing ducks and forcing their legs into shackles before dragging them through an electrified water bath meant to paralyze them—but a worker slit the ducks’ throats while they were still conscious, and ducks were seen moving for at least one minute afterward. The slaughterhouse owner told investigators that her employees never check for signs of consciousness before stabbing ducks in the neck and slaughtering them. At slaughterhouses inside villagers’ homes—suppliers to Nam Vu—the birds were tossed to the ground and workers cut off their feet while they were still conscious and struggling.

“Shoppers at H&M, Gap, GUESS, and other big-name stores should assume that down in their products came from tortured birds,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA Asia has exposed the Responsible Down Standard as a sham that doesn’t protect animals, and we encourage everyone to shun all down in favor of warm and cozy vegan clothing that leaves animals in peace.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—offers a roundup of high-tech down-free options on its website. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.