With a shocking revelation, luxury brands including ‘Hermès, LVMH, Prada and other top European fashion houses’ have been claimed of slaughtering ostriches for the manufacturing of their leather handbags and relevant goods.
The secret reveals that ostriches are kept in dirt-pens and crammed onto lorries, being taken away from the farm to slaughter houses.
An undercover investigator was sent to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) to the ostrich farms and abattoirs in South Africa.
The farms produce eggs, meat, feathers and also leather which is then sold to the above mentioned luxury brands for the production of their branded goods.
The ostrich is slaughtered in such a way that it is led into a machine, where its head is secured before it is stunned and turned upside down, after which the unconscious bird has its throat cut.
PETA says that some ostriches on the farm are still being kept alive to have their feathers plucked for the feather dusters and other usages.
The ostriches are kept and fed in the farms until the age of one year when they are ready to be slaughtered and sent ahead for specified usages.
Ostrich leather is mainly used to make a number of fashion accessories, and is particularly popular for branded handbags.
‘Smart, sensitive and curious young ostriches are treated like victims in a horror film simply because someone wants a bumpy Birkin bag or a pockmarked Prada purse’, says PETA Managing Director Ingrid Newkirk.
‘PETA urges shoppers to bag the skin and choose from the many high-end, ultra-fashionable and animal-friendly vegan accessories on the market.’
However, the luxury brand Hermes has slammed PETA’s claims, calling them to be abusive and their sub-par farming conditions to be ‘groundless’.
‘Contrary to what the video broadcast by the association suggests, the farms shown in the videos do not belong to Hermès.
‘Hermès operates at a secondary level within this industry and the small quantities of ostrich leather used by Hermès do not come from farms but tanneries which, as per all Hermès suppliers, are subject to permanent and stringent controls.
‘Hermès is always active and vigilant when it comes to corporate social responsibility. It carries out systematic checks on its suppliers and makes sure they strictly comply with local and international policies, and always strives to adhere to best practices in order to improve these policies.
‘Hermès deplores the relentless attacks by PETA aiming to harm its reputation through a dishonest representation of the facts and a complete ignorance of the deep ethical commitment of Hermès to the fight against animal cruelty, as well as any other welfare concerns.’
