Blog

7 Reasons Never To Wear Angora

Everyone loves rabbits at Easter. But the holiday is long gone and rabbits are still being terribly abused and exploited for ‘fashion’ in farms that are also a disaster for our planet. Angora rabbits have exceptionally soft and thick coats, and their wool is stolen by humans and used in sweaters, hats, scarves, mittens, and accessories. Some consider angora a ‘luxury fiber’ comparable to cashmere and mohair from goats. But the reality of what rabbits, and all animals whose fur or skin is taken from their bodies, go through is shocking. Here are seven reasons never to buy Angora wool.

1. Angora Wool Is Not Sustainable Or Eco-friendly

Breeding rabbits for the Angora industry is harmful to our earth. It’s an environmental hazard that threatens our land, air, water, and contributes to the climate emergency. Large scale commercial angora productions create havoc for precious ecosystems in a similar way leather, fur, wool, and factory-farmed animals do. Demand One of the Plant Based Treaty is Relinquish, which includes no building of new animal farms and no expansion or intensification of existing farms.

Fur Free Alliance explains, “The keeping of thousands of animals on fur farms has a severe ecological footprint, as it requires land, water, feed, energy and other resources. Several European advertising standards committees have ruled that advertising fur as environmentally friendly is “false and misleading.”

2. Rabbit Farms Are Not Regulated

90 percent of the world’s angora comes from China. On Angora farms, rabbits are intentionally bred and exploited to have overly fluffy wool. This leads to health problems, including intestinal issues when rabbits try to clean their fur and end up ingesting it, impaired sight, and eye diseases.

Rabbit Rescue Inc, based in Ontario and endorser of the Plant Based Treaty, is dedicated to saving rabbits from abandonment, neglect, illness, and inhumane conditions. Haviva Porter, Founder and Executive Director of this vegan rescue, explains, “The majority of rabbit fur comes from fur farms in China where there are no regulations, laws, or any kind of enforcement to protect these gentle creatures. There are no penalties for not following suggested standards.”

An estimated 50 million rabbits are bred in China annually on unregulated farms.

Porter continues, “When you get to know rabbits, you can see what gentle and sweet animals they are. The suffering they endure has been exposed, and now the world needs to do better with this knowledge.”

3. Rabbits Are Confined To Dirty Tiny Cages

Rabbits are social and smart creatures that love to dig, jump, and run. They form lifelong bonds with others and are naturally clean animals. But on Angora farms, rabbits are kept alone in wire-mesh cages not much bigger than their bodies. They are surrounded by their own waste, must stand on urine-soaked floors, and develop eye infections from the strong ammonia.

PETA reports, “The wire cages offer little protection from the elements, so the rabbits have no way to keep themselves warm after they have been plucked bald. When forced to live on wire flooring, rabbits’ tender feet become raw, ulcerated, and inflamed from constantly rubbing against the wire.”

4. Rabbit’s Fur Is Violently Ripped Out

Taking a rabbit’s fur is nothing like getting your hair cut or taking a dog to the groomer.

The agony rabbits endure on Angora farms is incomprehensible. PETA UK reports, “Live plucking is rife in the industry and is the most common method of obtaining angora.”

Rabbits scream in pain when their fur is ripped from all parts of their bodies and they are often physically restrained and held down while bleeding.

“PETA’s exposé of Chinese fur farms reveals the horrifying screams the rabbits make whilst being plucked, a process they’ll endure repeatedly for two to three years before ultimately being killed.

Other cruel forms of removing fur are to cut or shear it. “During the cutting process, [rabbits] have ropes tied to their front and back legs so that they can be stretched across a board. Some are even suspended in the air while panting heavily and struggling to escape.” – PETA UK

5. Male Rabbits Are Killed At Birth

Male angora rabbits are not as profitable to the industry, and it’s common to kill them after birth.“Female rabbits produce more wool than do males, so on larger farms, male rabbits who are not destined to be breeders are killed at birth. They could be considered the “lucky” ones.” – PETA

If you are familiar with what happens in the egg industry, this may sound familiar, since male chicks are deemed useless by the egg industry and are also killed shortly after birth.

6. Rabbit Lives Are Cut Short

On Angora farms, rabbits’ lives are cut short, and it’s common when their fur yield declines after two or three years, to be violently killed by having their throats slit and their bodies sold for meat.

“For such a gentle animal, the horrific life they are forced to live being part of the Angora fur industry is heartbreaking. Rabbits are social and loving creatures, who deserve respect and compassion. An Angora can easily live 8-12 years in a loving home, but that is cut drastically short when part of the angora fur industry, where their life span averages 2-3 years, during all of which they suffer tremendously.” – Haviva Porter

 7. Humane Angora Is A Myth

There is no kind way to remove a rabbit’s fur. Brands deliberately use confusing marketing terms like “high-welfare” and even call it “humane” if the rabbits are farmed outside of China. But an investigation of French Angora farms by One Voice reveals the horrific truth. PETA UK reports,“…footage shows that rabbits were tied to tables while their fur was ripped from their skin. Workers also twisted and pulled the animals into unnatural positions in order to pluck the hair from the most sensitive areas of their bodies.”

Porter from Rabbit Rescue explains, “Humane fur does not exist and angora is a particularly cruel industry where rabbits are exploited and their suffering ignored. But we all have the power to end this by making compassionate choices. If there is no market for fur, the animals won’t be bred and killed.”

She continues, “We have taken in horrendous cases of abused animals from both fur and meat operations. In every case, the rabbits learn to trust again and make incredible companions. Each one of them has their own personality, and knowing how much they suffer on fur farms is why we continue to raise awareness.” 

If you are looking to save a life in Ontario, Rabbit Rescue has rabbits for adoption.

More from the blog