Clothing industry

Written by Bob Sands on October 15, 2023

How Many Animals are Killed Annually by the Garment Industry

The vast majority of the billions of animals who are killed for their skin, wool, feathers, or fur endure all the horrors of factory farming. Sensitive living beings are forced to live in cramped, filthy conditions, and every bit of freedom and autonomy is taken away from them. Animals suffer at the hands of poorly or un educated workers, who may roughly handle, kick, and beat them. After a lifetime of torment, they’re violently slaughtered via the cheapest means possible, including bludgeoning, anal electrocution, and gassing. Some are even dismembered and skinned alive. Trapped animals used for their fur can suffer for days from blood loss, shock, dehydration, frostbite, and gangrene, or be attacked by predators before trappers return to kill them.

Fur and leather items are often deliberately mislabeled. In countries where animal welfare laws are virtually non-existent, some producers have been known to kill dogs and cats for fur and leather. So if you wear animals, there’s no easy way of knowing whose skin you’re in. But you can be sure that no matter who they were, they didn’t want to die to become clothing or accessories.

In addition to causing the suffering and deaths of billions of animals each year, the production of animal-derived materials — including wool, fur, and leather — contributes to climate change, land devastation, pollution, and water contamination.