Down products:
The real price is too high
FOUR PAWS asked producers of outdoor clothes about the origin of their products. The answers of the market leaders show why it is unacceptable to wear down from an animal point of view.
The big outdoor manufacturers talk a lot about responsibility and sustainability. FOUR PAWS asked more detailed questions. Below we list some of the answers and show that several questions remain unanswered with regard to animal welfare.
Geese plucking
Question to the companies: Can you rule out that feathers and down originate from live animals?
 All companies stated that the so called plucking of geese does not take place. FOUR PAWS, however, doubts that. Several companies said that they would receive shipments from China and Hungary, countries in which live plucking of countless geese takes place. Live plucking is massively expanding particularly in China. It is even highly praised as a business with a high profit margin on Chinese television. FOUR PAWS' research in China has confirmed the worst fears. Manufacturers such as Northland and Bergans seem to have been unaware of this development. Whereas Bergans said that 'animal welfare standards in China are usually better than those in Europe', Northland simply stated that 'there is no live plucking in China'.
FOUR PAWS suggests to avoid down from China. Unfortunately, many products contain Chinese down. Therefore animal lovers should avoid down products entirely.
Background: What is geese plucking?
Geese are plucked in many countries around the world. The aim is to gain a maximum amount of feathers and down from the live animal. Brigades of pieceworkers pluck the animals (plucking is also called harvesting or gathering) to produce the most expensive and high quality down. Down from the plucked old parent animals, in particular, is very popular and solely used for premium products. During the plucking the animals are often injured and the wound is stitched without using anaesthetics.
Down from live animals is mainly produced in China and Hungary. Live geese plucking does also take place in Poland, Germany, Russia and the Ukraine. In some countries, such as China, ducks are also used. Live plucking is banned in the EU, yet still continues, dressed up as 'moult plucking' or gathering.
Foie gras production
Question to the companies: Can you rule out that feathers or down originate from foie gras production?
Except for Jack Wolfskin and Helly Hansen all companies stated that the origin foie gras production can be ruled out. At the same time most of the questioned companies said that they use grey geese down. This is a contradiction since grey geese are kept professionally only for breeding purposes and mast for foie gras production, particularly in countries such as Hungary.
The Swiss company Exped and Globetrotter brand Meru are special cases. These companies stated that they purchase grey geese down from Poland. The Polish poultry breeding association was surprised when confronted with this information. There have been no grey geese farms in Poland since the ban on foie gras production. This means that the real origin of the down remains unknown as does the fate of the geese.
Outdoor manufacturer Jack Wolfskin is open about the origin force-feeding. The company runs adverts with French Pyrenees downs and admits using down from force-feeding. Meanwhile, Jack Wolfskin said that it has stopped using down gained through force-feeding. Although jackets containing down from battery cages used in the French force-feeding production will be on sale for years. Labels informing about the origin force-feeding have been removed from Jack Wolfskin products.
A similar case is Patagonia. Last year FOUR PAWS made the company aware of the sad origin of the grey geese down 'made in Hungary'. Moreover, Patagonia management was able to see the condition in animal husbandry first hand. Despite all that, Patagonia continues to use down originating from force-feeding. The company states that it is not necessary to label jackets containing down from foie gras production.
Background: What is foie gras production?
Geese in the force-feeding industry are usually kept in cages fitted with mesh. The animals are force-fed up to three times a day over a period of three weeks. During this procedure the goose's head is pulled out of the cage by force and a thick rubber tube is put down the animal's throat. By the push of a button up to 850 grams of sweet corn and mush are pressed into throat and stomach. The geese or duck cannot vomit, instead they try to shake the mush out of their beak and also try to escape the person force-feeding them. The foie gras industry likes to show geese exercising. This is only half the truth, however. After being kept under these relatively decent conditions, they are cruelly force-fed for three weeks. Force-feeding is considered animal cruelty and a criminal offence, and therefore banned, in most European and many other countries of the world.
Throughout the world it is always grey geese that are used for the foie gras production – be it in China or France. They are called 'fat geese races' in specialist literature. Grey geese run to fat more easily and have a high risk of developing fatty livers. The foie gras industry exploits this condition and has used only grey geese races for many years. At the same time the two market leaders in geese foie gras production are also the main down suppliers for the leading outdoor manufacturers.
French duck down is particularly dangerous since it is often camouflaged as Pyrenees down. Every year 50 million ducks are fattened in France alone.
Did all companies return the questionnaire?
Unfortunately some companies did not return the questionnaire. Deuter's attitude was particularly negative. The company did not seem to answer the questions because they were 'slightly coersive'.
There is more down originating from factory farming
More than 100 million ducks are fattened in Europe alone. Down originating from these mass animal husbandry also ends up in jackets and sleeping bags of the down industry after the animals are slaughtered. The animals live in closed, often windowless, halls without fresh air and sun light. Ducks are kept and fattened in barns on litter or mesh in the most confined spaces. Many animals do not survive this mass animal husbandry, weak animals are trampled down by their own kind. The litter turns into a stinking and muddy marsh.
Mass animal husbandry in Germany, France or Poland is not only an animal welfare problem. It also an enormous environmental pollution. Hence, the information “origin Germany” does not necessarily mean animal welfare, but often means the same fate . Beside the animal welfare and environmental problems down from the mast barn is not very useful for the owner of a jacket or sleeping bag either. Ducks kept in warm and humid mast barns that are killed after a few weeks do not develop a very good down.
Our conclusion
FOUR PAWS thinks it is commendable that most outdoor manufacturers answered our questions. Unfortunately companies such as Moncler or Deuter did not answer at all. This attitude is thought-provoking given that we live in a world where you can read the country of origin, the condition in which the animal is kept, the company and even the barn on every hen's egg in a supermarket.
Our advice: Buy a jacket without down. There are good alternatives that, contrary to the common down jackets, protect against rain.
17.01.2012
|
|
International
Europe
Austria
Bulgaria
Germany
Hungary
Netherlands
Romania
South Africa
Switzerland
Ukraine
United Kingdom
USA
