Goats need coats

BOB Broom’s letter, “Is SA’s mohair industry in trouble or are allegations false? (Cape Times, May 25), refers.

Peta’s 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. .

Thousands of goats die before and after shearing. In a single weekend, 40 000 goats died of exposure across South Africa, and if Bob Broom doesn’t believe this, he should watch Peta’s exposé video in which a farmer states this fact. Causing goats to endure pain unnecessarily – whether by lifting them by the tail, crudely sewing up their gaping wounds without any pain relief, or slashing their throats while they’re still conscious – violates South Africa’s Animals Protection Act No 71 of 1962.

We’ve submitted the evidence to law-enforcement officials and asked that they investigate and file charges as appropriate, and we look forward to their findings. Peta has always been clear about its goals. Animals are not ours to wear or abuse for any reason, and we work to establish and protect the rights of all living, feeling beings.

This cruel industry does not deserve our support. Fashion and consumer preferences are always evolving, and workers in the mohair industry can be retrained and transitioned to jobs in humane, environmentally friendly vegan fashions.

Goats need their coats; humans don’t.