Abuse of goats prevalent

Fly-fisher Neels Blom may have a stake in trying to discredit groups that protect animals — our efforts, after all, may make him feel guilty about hooking fish through their sensitive mouths. But People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) has always been clear about our goals, (Washington Post mohair story pulls wool over readers’ eyes, May 21). Animals are not ours to wear or abuse for any reason, and we work to establish and protect the rights of all living beings.

Our eyewitness visited 12 South African farms where goats were shorn for mohair and documented cruelty and mistreatment on every single one. This isn’t an anomaly, it’s standard practice in an industry that treats living, feeling beings as if they were nothing more than fibre factories. Even if such abuse occurred on only one farm it would be inexcusable.

Mohair farmers openly admitted that they routinely subject goats to agonising procedures, including punching sharp needles through their ears and castrating them with no painkillers. One farmer remarked that goats “shout and roll around” after castration because “it’s bloody painful”. Another said goats’ ears are cut off if they’re believed to be cancerous and yet another cut into a goat’s torso — apparently with no pain relief — to try to drain what she called an “abscess”.

Shearers are paid by volume, not by the hour, which encourages them to work as quickly as possible, leaving a trail of bloodied and traumatised goats in their wake. Shearing robs these animals of their natural insulation, and on some farms up to 80% of them may die after shearing. Workers even sheared the rotting corpses of goats.

This cruel industry does not deserve our support. Fashion and consumer preferences are always evolving, and workers in the mohair industry can be trained and transitioned to jobs in humane, environmentally friendly vegan fashions. Goats need their coats; humans don’t.

Jason Baker

Peta vice-president of international campaigns