Major retail clothing chains including Zara, Gap, H&M and Topshop have promised to stop the sale of garments containing mohair after animal rights activists revealed shocking acts of animal cruelty occurring in a number of goat farms in South Africa.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) launched the first ever investigation into the mohair industry, inspecting 12 different farms with disgraceful results.
Video footage exposed workers physically dragging animals by the horns or legs, lifting them right off the floor by their tails, and forcibly throwing them onto the ground.
“[Employees] worked quickly and carelessly, leaving goats cut up and bleeding,” reports PETA.
Sometimes the animals were killed after being shorn, with witnesses stating that a worker had slowly cut the necks of conscious goats with a blunt knife before breaking their necks.
Mohair is made exclusively from the hair of Angora goats, and is commonly used in the production of sweaters, coats and scarves. More than 50 percent of the world’s mohair is sourced from South Africa, where farm employees are paid by the amount of mohair they can produce, rather than receiving an hourly wage – encouraging them to work quickly and carelessly.
Although these major clothing lines were shocked by the investigation findings, it will be a slow process to phase out mohair, with H&M planning to ban it throughout all 4,700 stores by 2020, and Zara working towards the same deadline.
“The supply chain for mohair production is challenging to control – a credible standard does not exist – therefore we have decided to ban mohair fiber from our assortment by 2020 at the latest,” said Helena Johansson, a spokeswoman for H&M.
Five years ago, the same companies discontinued the sale of Angora rabbit fur, following PETA’s video footage of the cruelty inflicted upon rabbits in Chinese farms.
This more recent ban comes not long after major fashion designers like Gucci, Versace, Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren, among others, pledged to stop using animal fur in their ranges.
PETA now plan to make a formal complaint with the US Department of Agriculture.
“The most effective way to prevent goats from suffering and dying in the ways we’ve seen is by going directly to retailers and consumers,” said Dan Paden, director of evidence analysis at PETA. “What’s ultimately going to keep more goats from going through this is when retailers pull their support for the industry, and informed consumers leave the mohair products on the shelves and buy something else that doesn’t have as much cruelty woven into it.”
We urge these retailers to stop using mohair now, rather than supporting animal torture for another five years.

Horrific. Are these vicious workers going to be punished? Not likely in this country of mine..
No to Mohair, we are watching you
I truly think we have the name of what we and animals are called.
WE are the ‘Animal’.
the cruelty to all animals is staggering , and needs to stop now. its so sad that they are all at the mercy of a person
that treats them in such a manner…………..think about what you are doing, & how cruel it is.all animals feel fear & pain
put yourself in their place……………….
ANIMALS HAVE FEELINGS AND RIGHTS TOO! PLEASE HELP!
STOP ANIMAL ABUSE AND BRUTAL KILLINGS =ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !!
Il n’est nullement pas obligatoire de tondre les animaux de façon cruelle qui peut les blesser ou les tuer. Pourquoi les malmener pour prendre leur laine. Nulle place à la barbarie avec les êtres qui nous font vivre !
this is sick for what they do. they should be put in jail for doing this to them, make them suffer see how they like it. I wont be going to your country for a holiday ever.
I would like to thank these companies for taking a stand against animal cruelty. People need to understand that a voice means so much. We can all make a positive difference.
Cruelty needs to be STOPPED!
This photo is very disturbing. Anyone treating animals cruely should go to jail.
Es ist so grausam und barbarisch was da mit den Tieren geschieht, nur um Modeartikel herzustellen! Bitte boykottiert alle Hersteller und Geschäfte, die solches anbieten! Die Menschen haben nicht das Recht, die Tiere zu quälen! Das muss ein Ende haben, SOFORT!!!
Unless this is resolved, you’ve lost my and many of my friends business.
Our nation also has some horrific inhumane practices that need to be change. But most 3rd world nations have have very little humanity and we are letting these cultures in, even the ones who breed and eat dogs/cats/pets.
do not buy these brands if they don.,t stop, and are in a way contributing to cruelty to animals.STOP BUYING THEIR GOODS.
I WILL NEVER BUY ANYTHING MADE FROM ANIMALS. THERE IS NO EXCUSE TO ALLOW CRUELTY TO THE INNOCENT WHO HAVE NO VOICE!!!I AM THEIR VOICE AND I WILL NOT SHUT UP AS LONG AS WE BEHAVE LIKE BARBARIANS.PEOPLE WHO ARE INHUMANE TOWARDS ANIMALS ARE ALSO CRUEL TO CHILDREN,SO THINK ABOUT IT~
I cringe when I think of the animals that were still alive being skinned alive with broken necks by careless inhumane monsters. this and dog and cat meat trade made to be humane!! Someone send me on a tour and let me take action physically against the non-human creatures just making money and furnishing some stupid meat fetish!
I sure would not understand anyone wanting to sell fur of any kind especially once they are aware of how bad the abuse is. I could never feel good about wearing something with fur.Thank You to these stores that stopped selling these Items. You made a great decision.
Why the heck does it take so long to phrase out Mohair from these stores? 2020 is 2 years away and countless animals will continue to be abused and killed in the making of garments. What should happen is the immediate removal of all clothes with Mohair from stores. The garments could then be given to homeless shelters for the poor to wear and the company gets a tax deduction – it’s a win win for everybody…well except for the poor goats that suffered.If big corporations really care, let them stop selling Mohair today. Why wait 2 years? I worried that the retailers are hoping with time animal activists will have moved on to a new cause and they can continue to sell Mohair quietly.
Finally! We all know about their hypocrisy but still it is a victory
Shame on any company that continues to use mohair and people who buy mohair products!
All these idiots know it is not necessary to be cruel to these animals but they do so anyway. I haven’t worn mohair since the 1970’s. What kind of sick minds do you have to have to watch and be a part of an animal suffering, needlessly? You take their hair and for that you have to torture and kill them? Animals all over the world, for one reason or another is constantly being mistreated, tortured and killed because of a stupid species called humans. They will never have peace and tranquil lives free of humans because humanity feel it is their right to abuse and treat these precious creatures any way they please. I am so thankful for the animal rights groups that continue to fight for all animals. If it was up to me, I would take each and every one of those morons and drop them off the face of the planet. Who needs them. There are better ways to make products without causing harm to animals and we all know that. But because people can and want to, they do. They are idiots and the laws and government that constantly allow them to do it are also IDIOTS! It would serve us right if there weren’t any more animals on this planet. Then what would those fools do for a living. UNBELIEVABLE!