PETA activists dressed like Santa Claus and helpers protest outside an H&M store in Myeongdong, Seoul, on Nov. 24, where they call for an end to the consumption of products made with duck down. (Kim Jung-hyo/The Hankyoreh)
The international animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) carried out a protest against the production and consumption of products made from duck and goose down. On Friday afternoon, PETA activists dressed as Santa Claus gathered in front of the H&M store in Myeongdong, Seoul, where they handed out ax-shaped balloons to passersby, symbolizing their call for an end to the purchase of cruelly produced down products.
“Upon conducting an undercover investigation at a farm in Vietnam that supplies down to manufacturers like H&M, which claim to produce ‘ethical down,’ we discovered that the ducks and geese are still being slaughtered or plucked while still alive, which is no different from the methods used in the past,” claimed the PETA activists.
PETA activists dressed like Santa Claus and his helper protest outside an H&M store in Myeongdong, Seoul, on Nov. 24, where they call for an end to the consumption of products made with down. (Kim Jung-hyo/The Hankyoreh)
PETA activists dressed like Santa Claus and helpers protest outside an H&M store in Myeongdong, Seoul, on Nov. 24, where they call for an end to the consumption of products made with duck down. (Kim Jung-hyo/The Hankyoreh)
This protest was part of PETA’s campaign to encourage consumers not to purchase down products, even those marketed as “Responsible Down Standard-certified.”
“Ducks just want to forage, swim, and fly with their mates, yet they’re crammed into filthy pens and hacked apart for down used by H&M,” said PETA Asia Senior Vice President Jason Baker. “PETA is urging H&M to cut ties with the cruel down industry and for everyone to show compassion and kindness by only buying vegan materials.”
An activist with PETA dressed as Santa Claus hands out inflatable axes with messages condemning H&M’s use of goose down and the cruelty involved in its collection outside an H&M store in Myeongdong, Seoul, on Nov. 24. (Kim Jung-hyo/The Hankyoreh)
An activist with PETA dressed as Santa Claus hands out inflatable axes with messages condemning H&M’s use of goose down and the cruelty involved in its collection outside an H&M store in Myeongdong, Seoul, on Nov. 24. (Kim Jung-hyo/The Hankyoreh)
PETA activists dressed like Santa Claus and his helper hand out inflatable axes with messages condemning H&M’s use of goose down and the cruelty involved in its collection outside an H&M store in Myeongdong, Seoul, on Nov. 24. (Kim Jung-hyo/The Hankyoreh)
By Kim Jung-hyo, staff reporter
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