The highest grade of down, used to make the most comfy and costly bedding, involves a practice called live-plucking. That's when feathers and the undercoating of geese and ducks are pulled off their skin while the waterfowl are still alive.
Most retailers and their suppliers follow voluntary standards meant to ensure that live-plucking isn't part of their supply chain. But People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals PETA has released disturbing video taken by undercover PETA workers who visited nearly a dozen farms over a month-long period last fall in China, which produces roughly 80 percent of the world's down. The PETA employee said the activist group traveled to China hoping to learn that live-plucking was being phased out, but instead it found the practice is "still something openly done.
These down products are exported throughout the world and sold to consumers who don't understand the complexity of the supply chain," said Anne Kellogg, PETA's manager of corporate affairs. Some readers might prefer not to watch the graphic video , which shows geese, their feet restrained or held down by their necks, with farm workers pulling their feathers and undercoating off their skin, leaving open and often bloody wounds in the process. Their attitude in general is animals are insignificant.
PETA said its investigation offers evidence that retailers including Lands' End, Eddie Bauer and Hollander Home Fashions inadvertently had live-plucked down in their supply chains, despite a certification process involved in the Responsible Down Standard RDS that mandates the feathers are "non live-plucked.
Down and feathers are removed from the chest, lower belly, flanks and the areas not covered by the wings. It is also important to consider that, while the moulting season is influenced by the age, breed and genetics of the bird, moulting times can vary within a flock.
This procedure is a major welfare concern as live plucking results in bleeding and tearing of skin, causing pain, discomfort and stress to the birds Gentle and Hunter, Live plucking is condemned by the China Feather and Down Industrial Association, the European Down and Feather Association, as well as all other down and feather organisations.
Still, cases of live plucking have been reported in China, Hungary and Poland. Birds may be live plucked multiple times before slaughter. However, accurate statistics on the extent of live plucking are lacking. In Australia, the duck industry is relatively small and is mainly focused on meat, producing about 8 million ducks per year AgriFutures Australia, Down products are generally more expensive than their synthetic cousins.
In most cases, it takes high-quality materials and craftsmanship to contain better grades of down. We aren't talking feather here, but those spidery, whispy down clusters that are free of quills. All this quality makes for a product that can, with care, last 20 to 30 years, or more. So plenty of second-hand options do come to market. Buying pre-loved down avoids any additional animal welfare issues. Down soaps are available that keep such products clean and perky for many decades.
However, if a new down product is a must, then consider the alternatives offered by outdoor sleeping bag brands like Tundra , Crux and Bask. These guys source down by working with suppliers who hand collect down from the nests of molting geese, or from the famed Eider, a sea duck. In the latter case the female Eiders pluck down from their own breast to line the nest to keep her offspring warm in the northern arctic circle. If collecting during the nesting season, the harvesters often replace the down with hay, so eggs remain cozy.
The down from each Eider nest might yield up to 16 grams of down. A good three-season down sleeping bag might be filled with grams of down. This is the point where the industry parts company with animal welfare groups.
Clothing retailers and suppliers alike insist natural down is here to stay. The campaign groups sometimes forget that. A woman walks through a snowstorm in New York City. Temperatures are dropping and down-lined coats will be in ever greater demand. Topics Animal welfare features. Reuse this content.
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