The Responsible Down Standard (RDS) — a certification program for down suppliers — tries to assure consumers that birds are being treated “responsibly,” but as this PETA Asia undercover video shows, these “standards do not protect the birds.
PETA Asia investigated RDS-certified goose farms in Russia – which exports down to countries around the world – and found that geese were decapitated with a blunt ax while fully conscious.
Watch the pictures to see what happens to geese that are slaughtered for "responsible" down. Then take action to help end this violence:
Decapitated conscious geese – birds continue to move while bleeding to death
PETA Asia visited eight farms in Russia, including in the Novosibirsk region. Although the RDS states that 'waterfowl should be stunned and then killed before they regain consciousness', geese on one farm were not given any treatment for pain and were not stunned until their neck is stretched out on a stump and cut several times with an axe.
A workman is heard laughing after decapitating a goose in five blows and throwing the body in the snow. Another goose screams in terror as it is struck seven times . The birds' wings and legs can be seen twitching for more than five minutes afterwards.
According to Dr. Heather Rally, an American PETA veterinarian who reviewed the footage, "[the geese] undoubtedly experienced immense pain as they were suspended and restrained by their wings and had their necks mutilated by multiple blows." with a seemingly blunt axe. »
The lack of transparency of RDS – audits do not protect birds
PETA Asia investigators were taken to the farm where the slaughter was documented by a representative of a Russian company that produces up to 20,000 kg of down per month. Investigators learned that down purchased in the Novosibirsk region is certified by the RDS. This was news for the farmer who, despite claims from the company representative, said her farm was not certified. However, since his operation is part of the certified region, the company representative confirmed that the down from the geese seen in this sequence would still be sold as Responsible Down Standard certified down.
The RDS claims to track down production "from farm to product," but the rep said auditors don't ask farmers how the geese are raised. If the listeners are locals, “they don't even have to ask,” he said. "They know how the birds are raised." The RDS certification procedures make it possible to certify entire “agricultural areas” by controlling only a sample of a given area. This means that RDS administrators may not know what is happening on most farms when certifying entire regions.
The down industry has a history of abuse
This isn't the first time PETA has called out the cruelty of the down industry. In 2012, PETA United States released footage of workers plucking feathers from live geese , a process known as "live plucking". In the years that followed, companies faced a loss of consumer confidence, and so developed international standards claiming to guarantee “responsible” , “not raw-plucked” down.
But when PETA USA and PETA Asia visited farms linked to these certified and “responsible” companies, they discovered shocking cruelty that cast significant doubt on down standards. Investigators have spoken to suppliers of these supposedly “responsible” and “non-live-plucked” companies, who have admitted to buying and selling live-plucked down. One buyer even bragged about misleading his customers, and an industry representative remarked: "We announced that everything is plucked after slaughter - no one dares to buy it if you say that he is plucked alive. Their solution ? Declare their live plucked down as "not live plucked" for people to buy.
See each goose individually
Geese are loyal and protective, pairing for life and refusing to leave a sick or injured mate or chick, even if winter is approaching and the rest of the flock flies south. When a goose's mate dies, the surviving goose languishes in isolation – some spend the rest of their lives as widows or widowers, refusing to mate again.
Take action
Sportswear company lululemon refuses to acknowledge that geese are dying for its down jackets and continues to hide behind the meaningless Responsible Down Standard (RDS) and claim that birds used for its down jackets are treated "humanely and with respect".
Each down jacket in lululemon's stock represents the pain and fear of sweet birds that didn't want to die. Join PETA in calling on lululemon to stop selling down, which is still a product of cruelty.
Posted on 2022-08-22 09:23
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