Big Red Goes Green
As Exonians head into the depths of winter, they find warmth in big, fuzzy coats with fur-lined hoods. The trendiest of students will don a Canada Goose Jacket; some will simply sport a down coat. Regardless of the brand of the coat, the backstory can prove to be pretty horrific, though not many people are aware of it.
What fills the insides of your casually purchased jacket? Down. Goose down. Companies around the globe breed and raise geese for that sole purpose, harvesting their chest feathers every six weeks. According to the website Gentleworld.org, these feathers are harvested using three methods: post mortem, live plucking, and “gathering.”
In post mortem, the birds are murdered, their bodies scalded in hot water to make removal of feathers easier, hung up, and plucked. Sadly, this is not the most cruel method of feather removal. Live plucking is the next distressing method of feather harvesting. During live picking, the animal is held down by neck or wings, and selected feathers are plucked while the animal screeches and struggles in vain.
When the skin is torn by especially rough removals of feathers, it is quickly sewn back together before continuing the process, without the use of any anesthetic or sterilization. After removing the desirable feathers, the bird is left on the floor, struggling to waddle off due to the skin sewing. This happens every 6-7 weeks, until the bird dies or is killed in the process. This is how the feathers in your jacket were collected. The truth is hard to cope with, yet so many people are guilty of forgetting.
The last method is called gathering. Some believe this is the most ethical method, for the down of geese and ducks is collected by brushing the birds while they are molting. However, this process tends to be aggressive and proves to be just as painful as the other procedures.
Down is not the only brutally harvested material on our coats. The real fur on our collars was harvested from coyotes. Since brands such as Canada Goose stay true to their “humane treatment” and wild-caught fur, saying on their website that they “believe all animals are entitled to humane treatment in life and death, and are deeply committed to the responsible use and ethical sourcing of all animal materials in our products,” the unlucky coyotes are instead caught in traps in the woods of Canada.
These animals are left stuck for hours before the hunters return. Often the strength of the trap breaks the animal’s leg, leaving them whimpering and alone. Sometimes the familial instinct of the coyote causes it to chew through their own muscle and bone to free themselves and return to their young. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (or PETA) write that the “Wild coyotes trapped for the company’s fur-trimmed jackets can suffer for days and face blood loss, shock, dehydration, frostbite, gangrene, and attacks by predators.” Once found, the coyote is shot dead by Canada Goose’s hunters.
However, jackets created through animal cruelty are not the only warm winter jackets that are available! The amoral industry has recently been exposed for what it truly is, so companies are changing their tactics. More and more brands have been releasing synthetic, equally warm jackets such as Patagonia and Uniqlo. Now we aren’t saying to throw away your Canada Goose Jacket immediately—only that the next time you go coat shopping, keep in mind the pain harbored within each jacket as you browse through racks in the store.