PETA Asia investigators visited duck farms and slaughterhouses in Vietnam connected to companies that sell “responsible down,” including Target, Descente, and Asics. What they found proves that “responsible down” is responsible for immense animal suffering.
The eyewitness footage shows that ducks are forced to live in filthy sheds and on barren, feces-filled lots. Many had bloody wounds, and others were unable to stand. Inside a slaughterhouse, a worker violently grabbed birds and shackled them upside down. The birds were dragged through an electrified water bath that failed to render them unconscious. A worker then plunged a knife through their necks and left them hanging to bleed out.
Ducks are highly intelligent and have deep emotional lives. Ducklings can tell the difference between objects based on their color or shape, demonstrating abstract thought capabilities. They also show affection for their siblings and mothers. Ducks feel fear and pain just as acutely as humans do and share the same desire to live free of suffering. They need their feathers—we don’t.
PETA has released nine exposés of the down industry from nearly 50 farms in six countries—including farms with ties to certified and “responsible” companies—and each exposé has proved that intense suffering and horrific violence and killing are the foundation of the down industry. No one needs to buy down clothing or bedding, and we’re asking people to instead choose from the many superior, warm, stylish vegan materials that are widely available.
PETA has informed Target, Descente, and Asics that they’re implicated in this investigation and therefore complicit in this abuse. We’ve urged them to help protect ducks by replacing feather-filled products with vegan down, which is warm, animal- and eco-friendly, and preferred by many shoppers. But decisionmakers have refused to ditch down.
Please send a polite e-mail to Target, Descente, and Asics urging them to make the kind choice to stop selling down today.
