Animal Cruelty in the Fashion Industry
By: Taliyah Norris
Issue 2 Spring 2021
Approximately 50 million animals are slaughtered a year for the fashion industry. To harvest fabrics that society often wears like silks, wool, leather, cashmere, etc. can come at the cost of animal abuse. It can take about 35 animals to be killed to produce one coat, and the fashion industry produces around 150 billion garments a year.
LVMH, the largest luxury multi-industry company home to brands like Louis Vuitton, Céline, and Givenchy, uses real crocodile skins for its products. Most will not bat an eye when they encounter a crocodile skinned bag on the shelf, but the abuse these animals have to go through is horrifying. A large producer of these skins is in places like Vietnam and Singapore, where these large companies place stakes over the farms. On these farms, crocodiles are raised in extremely small environments. How they harvest these skins is with a process called “pithing.” The harvesters cut through the animals’ necks and shove a rod through their spine. After the pithing process, the crocodile can still be alive while they move on to the skinning process. Biologist, Clifford Warwick confirms that this execution method does not kill the animal immediately, so they have to endure this misery for over two hours.
The production of silk takes 6,600 silkworms to make about two pounds of silk threads. Billions of silkworms are executed a year in order to produce the world’s silks. Silk is produced from the silkworms’ cocoons since they spin it with silk. To harvest and unwind the silks easily, silk farmers kill the silkworm while in the cocoons. Some methods utilized include boiling the cocoon with the worms still alive or even gassing them. "It’s been scientifically verified that the worms have nerves so they can feel pain just like other animals. After the worms are killed in the cocoon, the cocoons are unraveled so they can be made into fabric. Atiya Salam, a student that has previously worn silks, feels that if “people knew about how the silk is produced that it would be discouraged by society.” This production is not only inhumane, but the silk industry also is harmful to our environment.
Workers that harvest the materials people wear are generally not paid by the hour, but paid by the pound. This leads to negligence when it comes to handling the animals. For illustration, in the wool industry, they are regularly cut from the sheers and left with no medical attention. Even after the lambs that perish from infection are sheared, no product goes to waste. These animals are fearful and are put in so much anguish before they are killed, so companies like Peta promote vegan clothing and humane treatment towards these animals. Major companies like Gucci have vowed not to use real fur anymore for their designs. While the fashion industry seems glamourous on the surface, the process of harvesting these materials is often kept in the dark from the public.
LVMH, the largest luxury multi-industry company home to brands like Louis Vuitton, Céline, and Givenchy, uses real crocodile skins for its products. Most will not bat an eye when they encounter a crocodile skinned bag on the shelf, but the abuse these animals have to go through is horrifying. A large producer of these skins is in places like Vietnam and Singapore, where these large companies place stakes over the farms. On these farms, crocodiles are raised in extremely small environments. How they harvest these skins is with a process called “pithing.” The harvesters cut through the animals’ necks and shove a rod through their spine. After the pithing process, the crocodile can still be alive while they move on to the skinning process. Biologist, Clifford Warwick confirms that this execution method does not kill the animal immediately, so they have to endure this misery for over two hours.
The production of silk takes 6,600 silkworms to make about two pounds of silk threads. Billions of silkworms are executed a year in order to produce the world’s silks. Silk is produced from the silkworms’ cocoons since they spin it with silk. To harvest and unwind the silks easily, silk farmers kill the silkworm while in the cocoons. Some methods utilized include boiling the cocoon with the worms still alive or even gassing them. "It’s been scientifically verified that the worms have nerves so they can feel pain just like other animals. After the worms are killed in the cocoon, the cocoons are unraveled so they can be made into fabric. Atiya Salam, a student that has previously worn silks, feels that if “people knew about how the silk is produced that it would be discouraged by society.” This production is not only inhumane, but the silk industry also is harmful to our environment.
Workers that harvest the materials people wear are generally not paid by the hour, but paid by the pound. This leads to negligence when it comes to handling the animals. For illustration, in the wool industry, they are regularly cut from the sheers and left with no medical attention. Even after the lambs that perish from infection are sheared, no product goes to waste. These animals are fearful and are put in so much anguish before they are killed, so companies like Peta promote vegan clothing and humane treatment towards these animals. Major companies like Gucci have vowed not to use real fur anymore for their designs. While the fashion industry seems glamourous on the surface, the process of harvesting these materials is often kept in the dark from the public.
