Animal cruelty is the ultimate fashion faux pas

Kangaroos deserve better than being poached for k-leather

Kangaroos are gentle, land-dwelling, wild mammals that usually live in close-knit family groups called ‘mobs.’ These iconic animals of Australia are mainly active at night and early morning to graze, which is typically when they are hunted from a distance – all so their skin can be turned into leather, known as ‘k-leather,’ and be used in non-essential sporting products or as pet food.

Because kangaroos are often hunted in remote locations, there is no real way to effectively monitor animal welfare. Conservative estimates are that about 40 percent of the shots fired by hunters are not immediately fatal. And if the kangaroo manages to escape the clutches of the hunter, he or she ends up suffering a slow and painful death. Sometimes, joeys suffer an inhumane death by blunt-force trauma or are left to fend for themselves if they are still present in their mothers' pouches.

In the last 10 years, over 15 million kangaroos have been killed for the commercial trade, making it the largest commercial hunt of land-based wildlife in the world. This number doesn’t include joeys or other kangaroos who are incidentally wounded and then die, so the death toll is much likely higher.

Ending their lives in the cruellest of manners just to make fashion products such as hats, football boots, ice skates is unjustifiable, especially when there are plenty of non-animal and sustainable alternatives available in the market today.

It is thanks to your relentless support that brands such as Viking and Bol.com have removed kangaroo products from their range. With the support of compassionate consumers like you, we can move the world to protect animals and ensure the usage of wildlife in fashion comes to a halt.

Crocodiles: the real victims of fashion

Crocodiles have a reputation for being fierce and dangerous, but it is a lesser-known fact that they are also sentient and intelligent beings. The fashion industry, however, treats them as commodities, reducing their lives from 70+ years to just two to three short years, ending their lives in small, barren, plastic-lined pens.

Right now, it’s estimated there are more of these innocent reptiles trapped on overcrowded farms in the Northern Territory of Australia than there are in the wild. Paying the real price of fashion on these farms, crocodiles are electrically stunned, rendering them immobile for several minutes. The nape is then cut to allow them to bleed out, making them suffer for a prolonged period after which their brains are pithed with a short steel rod – a tragic end to their all-too-brief lives. All just to make non-essential luxury products.

A single luxury handbag costs at least three to four crocodiles their precious lives. It’s indefensible to make an animal suffer such unimaginable pain given there are many alternatives available today which are humane as well as innovative.

Together, we can put an end to the commodification and cruel exploitation of crocodiles and create a world where cruelty-free, ethical and conscious fashion is the norm.

Mink fur is unfashionably cruel

Mink are solitary creatures who spend most of their lives alone in their natural habitats which are often near water. These semiaquatic mammals, who purr when they are happy, enjoy having their own space and being able to roam free.

Presently, millions of mink are being forced to live in cramped, barren, and highly restrictive wire cages the size of a microwave oven before being brutally slaughtered for their fur, to make non-essential luxury products. Adding to their misery, the selective breeding for fur quality is causing many of them to suffer from genetic disorders such as deafness, blindness or other sensory impairment, or higher susceptibility to diseases.

Europe accounts for 70% of the global mink fur production, with Denmark being its largest producer until 2020 wherein 17 million mink were culled after catching COVID-19. Following that, a temporary ban on mink fur production was imposed by the Danish parliament until the beginning of 2023, which made many mink farmers find new and sustainable businesses such as beer brewing.

If a temporary ban can have such a massive impact, a permanent ban would make a world of a difference to the lives of mink. A life free from needless suffering is possible for minks, and with your help, it is within reach.