Schuh Parent Company Bans Alpaca After PETA US Appeal
Schuh Parent Company Bans Alpaca After PETA US Appeal
London – After PETA US shared a first-of-its-kind exposé revealing that crying alpacas are roughly shorn, cut open, and left bleeding from deep wounds, footwear and accessories retailer Genesco has agreed to ban alpaca fleece from all its brands, including Schuh. In thanks, PETA US is sending the company a box of delicious vegan chocolates.
“Alpacas are prey animals who are terrified of being pinned down, making the crude shearing process even more traumatic for them,” says PETA Director of Corporate Projects Yvonne Taylor. “PETA is celebrating Genesco’s compassionate decision, which recognises alpacas as individuals, not accessories.”
PETA’s exposé shows that workers slammed alpacas – some of whom were pregnant – onto tables, tied them tightly by the legs to a rack, and pulled hard, nearly wrenching their legs out of their sockets. The terrified animals spit, cried out, and vomited in fear as workers grabbed them by the ears, roughly sheared them, crudely stitched up their bloody cuts with a needle and thread, and threw them to the concrete floor.
Genesco previously banned angora and mohair after PETA exposés of horrific cruelty and appeals from the organisation’s international affiliates. The company now joins Marks and Spencer, Next, New Look, Matalan, UNIQLO, Ted Baker, Esprit, Valentino, and many other brands in banning alpaca – and PETA is calling on Anthropologie to follow suit.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Contact:
Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7923 6244; [email protected]
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