Animal rights, animal welfare and clothing

In this article, we discuss the problems with using animal-derived materials in clothing, outline the animal welfare issues with leather, down and other materials, and highlight the animal-friendly alternatives and where you can find them. We also look at standards and certification schemes particularly for cashmere and mohair.

What are the problems with using animal-derived materials in clothing?

For many, the use of animals’ bodies for human clothing is inherently unethical. Their skins, furs and feathers are exploited for our gain – denying their bodily autonomy. Farmed animals are usually killed once they stop becoming economical e.g. producing milk fast enough, cutting their lifespan to a fraction of what it could be in the wild or at a sanctuary.

For other people, the key concern may be whether certain welfare conditions are met and buying certified products. Unfortunately, animal-derived materials are associated with some very low standards of animal welfare. Foxes and rabbits are often kept in cages for their entire lives, for the use of fur. Many merino wool lambs are subjected to painful mutilations.

While humans have used animal materials since the prehistoric period, the rise of industrial farming has rapidly transformed our relationship to other animals and the materials we take from them.

Many species are farmed in enormous numbers. They can live in confined or otherwise uncomfortable conditions and be forced through cycles of production designed to make their bodies produce more and produce faster up until the day of slaughter.

In the UK it is estimated that over 70% of farmed animals live on factory farms. Amongst these, there are over 1000 mega farms. And between 2011-2017, there was a 26% rise in this kind of intensive factory farming. These are farms that have more than 125,000 birds reared for meat, or 82,000 egg-laying hens, or 2,500 pigs, or 700 dairy cows or 1,000 beef cattle.

Leather is usually bought as a ‘by-product’ (see below why some people prefer the term ‘co-product’) of the meat industry. Although considered a ‘waste product’, it can channel money back into factory farming. Other animal products like fur are specifically farmed – meaning that fashion creates an exploitative industry all of its own.

Animal welfare standards and enforcement

Given that animal exploitation isn’t a good look, many large clothing companies now source certified animal fibres or have future targets for higher standards. However, beyond voluntary animal welfare standards, the protections for animals under ordinary law enforcement are often dire. 

According to a 2023 report by Animal Equality and the Animal Law Foundation, only one in 300 animal welfare complaints at UK farms lead to prosecution. Speaking to The Guardian, the executive director of Animal Equality UK said, “Non-compliance is endemic, evidenced time and again through undercover investigations”. 

Even when products are certified, given some of the vagueness found in some of the animal welfare standards, coupled with poor enforcement, it’s not hard to see how undercover investigations repeatedly find that standards are not being followed. A recent 2023 study evaluating the different animal-based textile standards found that only one out of 17 standards were adequately addressing animal welfare risks.

Below we look at some of the main animal products used such as leather, wool (sheep) merino wool, angora, cashmere, mohair, down, fur, and silk, and the problems associated with them.

Leather and animal welfare

Animals' skins provide them with amazing resilience against the elements.

Recognising this, humans have long killed animals for their hides and leather. Leather is waterproof and extremely durable, and has therefore been used for shoes and clothing. Nowadays leather has become a staple of the fashion industry: it is estimated that half a billion dead animals are used by the leather industry each year, and 84% of brands source leather in their supply chains.

Leather is associated with a multitude of animal welfare issues. Most leather in the UK comes from cows. Some factory farmed cattle will spend a large part of their lives tethering in dark, overcrowded barns. Most cows raised for meat will be killed at 1-2 years of age.

Companies in the UK also often import finished leather products from countries elsewhere, which may have a lower standard for animal and environmental rights. For example, the UK is the third biggest importer of leather and leather products from India.

In India, it is illegal to slaughter cows in many states, meaning they are often transported huge distances – either walked for miles in high temperatures, or over-crowded into vans where they can injure one another. There are reports that animals have been skinned while still alive. Workers making leather products in India for European brands have also reported serious abuses such as unprotected use of toxic chemicals, accidents from machinery and poverty wages.

Leather is also associated with multiple environmental issues. Cattle farming has a high climate impact, with the beef industry (from which most leather comes) responsible for a quarter of all emissions from our food every year. To stop leather from decomposing, a toxic mix of chemicals is also used including infamous poisons such as cyanide and arsenic. Effluent from tanneries also pollutes surrounding land, water and air.

Is leather a by-product or co-product?

Leather is often considered a ‘by-product’ of the meat industry: it comes from animals that were killed for meat, and therefore otherwise may have been discarded. Fashion companies sometimes market products based on this point, suggesting that by buying a leather product you’re cutting down on waste.

But farmers are paid for leather (although a small amount), meaning that it can help to sustain animal farming for slaughter and is likely factored into their predicted income. It’s therefore difficult to know where the line between ‘by-product’ and ‘co-product’ lies.  

Animal leather vs synthetic leather

The clothing industry has developed a growing number of alternatives to animal leather. But is vegan leather an ethical product?

Vegan leather is generally made from plastic, and, like animal leather, has historically been associated with some very toxic chemicals. In our 2020 shopping guide to shoes, we reported that “the environmental impact of vegan leathers has been improving enormously.” Synthetic leather materials have, on average, less than half the greenhouse gas emissions and overall environmental impact than real leather per kg.

However, there’s a big catch: vegan leather is much less durable than animal leather. It’s expected to last 2-5 years, compared to animal leather products which can last several decades. This means that in practice, the environmental benefits of switching to vegan leather may not be so great.

Should I buy secondhand leather?

Secondhand leather is a divisive topic for many consumers concerned about animal rights and welfare.

For some, it's a solution to the animal welfare vs durability trade off when it comes to buying leather or faux leather clothing. Proponents of secondhand leather argue that it does not fund the industry, and therefore is not fuelling the animal welfare issues involved. Many also point out that it keeps products in use, significantly cutting their environmental footprint. It can also be a way to avoid buying new plastic alternatives.

For others, secondhand leather normalises wearing an animal’s body for our own benefit. Some argue that we don’t ever have the right to wear another animal’s body regardless of how it’s purchased.

Wool and animal welfare

Like leather, wool is an incredible adaptation that allows animals to survive in many conditions. It is warm and water resistant, helping a shivering sheep on a UK hillside in November. Humans and companies have recognised the powerful qualities of wool and as such it has become a staple in the clothing industry.

Yet, its use raises serious concerns for those worried about animal welfare and animal rights.

Most wool in the UK comes from sheep. Around one third is taken from lambs after they have been slaughtered for meat. The rest comes from ewes, who are bred for birthing.

The industry is associated with multiple animal welfare issues. Lambs are often subject to ‘tail docking’ – cutting their tails short to prevent infection. Ewes are inseminated artificially and encouraged to mate on repeat and can have serious problems giving birth, due to the way sheep have been bred to suit industry demands. Sheep are rarely allowed to live their full lifespan, and are killed when their bodies slow down and are unable to produce at the same rates as a younger animal.

Shearing itself also has welfare issues attached. According to Viva!, “Sheep are easily frightened and don’t like being handled but shearers forcibly restrain them to remove their wool. [...] To prevent sheep from vomiting due to stress, food and water are often withheld for eight hours beforehand.” Shearers are generally paid by the number of sheep sheared, rather than an hourly wage – at £2 per sheep in the UK. This may force them to rush through the process, making injuries to the sheep more likely. There is no legal requirement for shearers to be trained.

Research by Ethical Consumer also found that wool is the worst fabric when it comes to carbon footprint. It had the highest carbon emission per kilo of any fabric looked at – producing three times the emissions of flax linen, the best fabric when it comes to the carbon footprint. Buying recycled wool is a way of lowering its impact.

Merino wool and animal welfare

Australia is the world’s biggest exporter of merino wool, responsible for about a quarter of all global production. Due to the prevalence of something called ‘fly-strike’ in the country, sheep farmers often perform 'mulesing' which involves carving strips of skin and flesh off the backs of unanaesthetised lambs’ legs and around their tails. This is done to cause smooth, scarred skin that won’t harbour fly eggs. Around 20 million merino lambs are subjected to mulesing every year.

More and more companies are committing to only source from suppliers who will not use mulesing. Ethical Consumer marks companies down under the Animal Rights category if they haven’t made this commitment, so check our guides to clothing to avoid this practice.

Animal rights group Four Paws hoped that there might be an end to the cruel practice of mulesing for the wool industry. Four Paws have collated a list of 350 fashion brands that have a clear policy against mulesing. It also reports that many brands have made commitments to only sourcing wool that is certified mulesing free. 

Angora wool and animal welfare

Angora wool comes from rabbits. The majority of angora rabbits are bred and kept in China, where they are housed in small, dirty, bare cages and live plucked four times a year. Reports have found that rabbits can be restrained and live plucked even in ‘humane’ farms.

For this reason, more than 425 brands have banned angora.

Is wool ethical and what certification schemes are there?

For many vegans, wool will be a no go, because sheep can’t consent to us using it. For others, it may depend on how the sheep have been reared and kept (and may be appealing in an age of plastic because it is biodegradable or non-synthetic).

Some brands are trying to support better wool farming practices. For example, outdoor brands like Patagonia use the Responsible Wool Standard. The standard was developed by the Textile Exchange, working with experts from Four Paws, Humane Society and Wildlife Friendly. PETA has, however, previously accused it of greenwash, saying that inspections were ineffective and not performed often enough.

Along with the Responsible Wool Standard there are also the Responsible Alpaca Standard and Responsible Down Standard, which are very similar to the Responsible Wool Standard. 

In our clothing guides we give some positive marks to organic wool certified by the Soil Association when rating companies, which has higher animal welfare standards overall. 

Secondhand wool might be an option, to avoid directly funding the industry. But for others this doesn’t really address the problem of sporting an animal product.

How ethical is cashmere?

Often seen as a luxurious fibre, cashmere is the soft inner coat of a cashmere goat’s fleece, a small proportion of their overall fleece. The majority of cashmere is produced by farmers in China and Mongolia, followed by Tibet, Afghanistan, Iran, and, in lesser amounts, other countries in and around Asia. There is also a herd in Scotland. The main consumers of cashmere are in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

Key welfare issues for cashmere goats include stress during restraint and handling, injury and pain from combing, and thermoregulation if the coat is removed outside of the goats’ usual shedding period.

An undercover PETA Asia investigation between 2022 and 2023 in the world’s largest cashmere-producing country, Mongolia, found that workers were pinning goats down, skin was pulled away along with their coats, there were dead animals around onsite, and an unsterilised knife was used without any pain relief for castration. Combing was found to take up to one hour per goat, whilst they were tied up.

Cashmere standards

We looked at the animal welfare criteria in the Good Cashmere Standard and the Sustainable Fibre Alliance Cashmere Standard.

The Good Cashmere Standard has fairly detailed criteria, however, a lot of it appears to be ‘nice to have’ rather than compulsory. Whilst appearing comprehensive, only criteria marked with a ‘C’ (critical) or ‘M’ (major) would mean a non-compliance if the farm wasn’t doing them. It doesn’t list some key welfare issues as critical or major, for example evaluating body condition during vulnerable periods such as pregnancy and having mitigation strategies in place.

Having clean and dry bedding to lie down on is not listed as critical or major, nor are visits from a veterinarian and routine health care. It requires workers to only comb goats when they are naturally shedding their coats and for “thermal comfort” post-shearing, although it’s not clear what the latter involves.

We found the Sustainable Fibre Alliance Cashmere Standard to be the weaker of the two, with its criteria missing key details including on pain relief, castration, slaughter, and audits. The SFA standard in particular has also been criticised by PETA from its undercover investigation.

If you want to buy cashmere or other animal-based fibres, we recommend buying secondhand, followed by recycled, or more sustainable and ethical fibres such as linen or organic cotton if buying new.  

Mohair and animal issues

Mohair comes from angora goats, with the majority produced in South Africa, followed by Lesotho, Argentina, Turkey, and the United States. A very small amount is produced in the UK. The goats have been bred to grow uniform locks of fleece, which are then sheared off.

A PETA Asia investigation of angora goat farms in South Africa found workers dragging goats by their legs and horns, lifting goats up from the floor by their tail, and removing faeces from coats by dumping animals into cleaning solution with their heads underwater, among other things.

Responsible Mohair Standard

We looked at the animal welfare criteria in the Responsible Mohair Standard (RMS). Similar to the Good Cashmere Standard, it had ‘critical’ and ‘major’ criteria and lesser criteria which would not result in a non-compliance. 

It had relatively few critical criteria including for animals to be fed, have access to water, breeding to be carried out “by competent persons”, and what is prohibited by UK law such as kicking animals and a requirement to carry out emergency killing for seriously ill or injured animals. 

Its lesser criteria cover a wider range of issues, but they are often vague and do not provide parameters which could be consistently applied. For example, it uses words like ‘sufficient’ and ‘minimise’ for parameters without defining or quantifying what this means, such as 'minimising isolation of individual goats'. Its criteria state that animals should be monitored in various scenarios but without stating what should be done to manage certain outcomes.

Whilst appearing comprehensive, in reality many of its criteria are open to interpretation. Its requirements around slaughter are optional and not audited unless done voluntarily.

Down and animal welfare

The feathers from millions of geese and ducks, mainly bred in China, are used for the production of down.

The vast majority of down is taken when the animals are killed for meat. However, some will have their feathers plucked while alive, and this can happen on repeat for years. Down from birds that have been live plucked many times is very high value, because this gives it more ‘fill-power’ (warmth per volume). Some birds may also have been force-fed for foie gras.

Lots of companies now claim that they will only use feathers that were plucked from birds after they were slaughtered for meat. However, few companies properly trace where feathers used actually come from, making it hard to guarantee.

In the last decade, animal welfare charity Four Paws has worked with outdoor brands to improve the situation. A growing number of companies are now ensuring that their down is both transparent and traceable.

Our article on down looks at the issue in more detail and highlights outdoor clothing companies with better down practices.

Fur and animal welfare

Over half a billion animals are raised and killed each year for their fur. Around 85% of the skins used by the fur industry come from fur farms, where animals such as mink, foxes, rabbits and chinchillas are specially raised and kept for the purpose.

PETA says that fur farms are “dismal, often filthy places where thousands of animals are usually kept in wire cages for their entire lives.”

“To cut costs, fur farmers pack animals into unbearably small cages, preventing them from taking more than a few steps in any direction or doing anything that is natural and important to them, such as running, swimming, making nests, and finding mates. Many animals go insane under these conditions. The anguish and frustration of life in a cage leads many animals to self-mutilate, biting at their skin, tail, and feet; frantically pace and circle endlessly; and even cannibalise their cage mates.”

Animal fur vs synthetic fur

With the move away from animal fur, some companies have started using synthetic fur for shoes, coats and trims.

Faux fur is usually made from synthetic fibres like acrylic and polyester. These are plastic based, meaning that they’re made from fossil fuel feedstock and contribute to plastic pollution.

Given that both animal and synthetic fur come with issues attached, you might decide to steer clear of fur altogether.

Which companies use fur?

Over recent years a growing number of companies have banned the use of fur in their products, including H&M, Topshop and Zara. PETA keeps a full list of fur-free companies.

In all our guides, we mark companies down under Animal Rights if we find them selling fur. Check our various clothing guides to see how your favourite brands score.

Silk and animal rights

Silkworms produce silk to weave into their protective cocoons.

On silk farms, these insects are boiled or gassed inside their cocoons, because it makes the silk begin to unravel so it can be harvested. The insects that are allowed to grow into moths can be killed once they have mated and laid eggs, the female moths crushed to check for diseases.

There are also human rights issues in the silk industry. In 2021, CNN reported that workers in the Indian silk industry were being paid just $3 an hour. Some were working in bonded labour conditions – forced to work in return for debts owed to employers.

What is peace silk?

‘Ahimsa’ or ‘peace silk’ is produced without killing the insects during harvesting. The moths are allowed to hatch out of their cocoons, before they are harvested.

Much peace silk is still from silk farming, although some, known as ‘tussar silk’ , comes from wild moths whose cocoons are collected.

However, peace silk still has its ethical issues attached. PETA says, “no certification authorities exist to guarantee that these standards are upheld, and there have been reports of conventional silk being sold as ‘peace silk’.” While the moths are not killed for harvesting to take place, they may be slaughtered after they can no longer reproduce.

Animals silk vs artificial silk

Artificial silk is generally made from bamboo fibres, to produce a fabric called rayon. While this might sound sustainable, the process can involve the use of very toxic chemicals, which can be leaked into the environment.

If you really do want a silk equivalent, you may want to look for organic bamboo or bamboo linen, where the fibres will have been mechanically rather than chemically extracted. The next best option is ‘lyocell’ bamboo, which minimises chemical use. This may be labelled as Monocel®.

We have an article which discusses fabrics in more detail.

Additional research by Louisa Gould.