Investigating the Angora Wool Industry
In collaboration with:
In many years of Tracks’ existence, we have covered the lives of many animals that we use and abuse for fashion and vanity. However, our first investigation into the production of wool, for the animal rights organisation One Voice, has surprised even us due to the violence inherent in the breeding and farming of angora for wool.
Using hidden cameras, we were able to document the ‘harvesting’ process – a method that sees rabbits fasten to a board, stretched out so they cannot move before fur is plucked by the handful. The rabbits struggle wildly, attempting with all their strength to break free. And when the breeder resumes plucking, which is tantamount to torture, they scream in terror and pain.
In light of the investigation, One Voice complained to the Council of State. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food insisted that the plucking process was non-invasive. They maintained that it was legal, basing their assertion on the conclusions of a report by the National Institute of Agricultural Research. The report turned out never to have existed.
Inside the Industry
The usual method of collecting their ‘wool’ is still to fasten them by their paws to a board, stretch them out so that they cannot move and pull out almost all their fur by the handful. In the wild rabbits use their voices only in very exceptional circumstances: when there is great danger.
Most of the rabbits on these premises are does. The bucks are killed shortly after they are born because their fur is not as dense. Only those that have the densest fur and are therefore the most profitable are kept for breeding. Approximately 170 spend their entire lives shut up in the hutches of this well-known breeder, plucked in this way several times a year, often in the presence of the breeder’s dog and sometimes other rabbits.
During the infiltration, it was discovered that he sold sick rabbits to vivisection laboratories – the ultimate horror for these poor creatures.
In parallel with numerous joint actions with their partner PETA France to raise public awareness, One Voice decided to bring a complaint to Europe, because this simply cannot go on.
Please sign One Voice’s urgent petition to help end this horrific industry for good.
Tracks Investigations has undertaken over 295 investigative film projects supporting over 40 conservation, environmental and animal protection NGOs since its inception in 2006. Learn more about how you can work with us here. To support our investigative work for animals, click here.