Boohoo’s Latest Shareholder is PETA US
For Immediate Release:
21 March 2019
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327, ext 222; [email protected]
BOOHOO’S LATEST SHAREHOLDER IS PETA US
Following Company’s Wool Ban Ewe-Turn, Group Purchases Share to Help Protect Lambs and Sheep
London – As boohoo group continues to sell wool, despite knowing that sheep are subjected to shocking, systemic cruelty in the wool industry – and that wool is one of the most environmentally damaging materials – PETA US has become a shareholder in the company so that its representatives can attend the annual general meeting later this year, speak to other shareholders and executives, and call for the retailer to commit to finally banning wool.
The move is part of PETA’s campaign urging the global retailer to stand by its original decision to ban wool. The group – which includes the brands boohoo, boohooMAN, PrettyLittleThing, and Nasty Gal – previously told PETA that “as of AW19/20, we will not knowingly source any wool products” but has since gone back on that promise.
“It’s time boohoo group proved that it’s a real leader in global retail by standing by its compassionate initial decision to ban wool,” says PETA Director of Corporate Projects Yvonne Taylor. “As a shareholder, PETA US will be able to push the retailer’s management to do the responsible thing for shareholders and animals alike by showing that no jumper or scarf is worth kicking, punching, and killing gentle sheep on the shearing floor.
PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”, and the group opposes speciesism, which is a supremacist worldview. Since 2014, PETA has released 11 exposés of 99 wool industry facilities on four continents, including in the UK, and systemic abuse was found in every one. On farms across England and Scotland, shearers were found punching sheep in the face, stamping and standing on their heads and necks, and beating them with electric clippers. Several sheep died of apparent stress during and following shearing, and one farmer was recorded dragging two ailing sheep into a shed, where he left them to suffer and die.
PETA notes that the wool industry also wreaks havoc on the environment: manure generated by farmed animals has significantly contributed to the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases, large-scale grazing has led to vegetation change and soil erosion, and faecal matter and sheep “dip” (a toxic chemical used to rid sheep of parasites) pollute local waterways. The “Pulse of the Fashion Industry” report ranks wool fifth on its list of materials that have the highest cradle-to-gate environmental impact per kilogram.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.
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