DOWN, IS VIOLENCE WORTH YOUR COMFORT?
“Down. A product of high quality, luxury and ethical treatment of animals”, a blatant lie, but this is how the down industry tries to sell their product of cruelty, and people are buying it. The words above couldn’t be further from the truth. Those words are used to sell a potential buyer a better conscience while having the blood of the victims on their hands.
This educational blog post about the down feather industry, reveals the truth of this vile industry and breaks down the lies of ethical and eco-friendly down, for a better, compassionate, and just world, where animals can simply be and be free in peace.
WHAT IS DOWN?
Down feathers, mostly of ducks and geese, are the soft feathers closest to birds’ skin, primarily in the chest region, highly valued by the industry because they don't have quills.
The animal individuals get locked up separately in body-sized iron cages, stacked next to each other, and not able to move and escape the cruelties that are put upon them. If they are not in cages, they get crammed into big halls by the hundred thousand. Their feces are everywhere and they often have to live in theirs and the ones of others.
They get mentally and physically abused by getting plucked repeatedly, starting at 10 weeks of age, and get plucked every six weeks, while they are still alive until they get sent to slaughter for their flesh or die a cruel death due to intense pain, distress, or unhygienic forms of husbandry. Plucking causes geese and ducks considerable pain.
DOWN WAS SOMEBODY ELSE’S COAT BEFORE
The reality of the down industry is an absolute disgrace, bloody, disgusting, degrading, and vile. It is sick through and through and is never seen, but advertised as a luxurious, exquisite, and unsurpassed product. Down is a product of violence and exploitation and a lifetime of suffering and pain for the animals, no matter how “good, ethical, and animal-friendly” it is advertised. It is torturing and killing sentient non-human animals, just like any other branch of the animal industry.
Goose and ducks get imprisoned, inseminated against their will, their babies get snatched from them, to grow them as fast as possible again to be of profit for the business.
Does this happen for Your convenience and comfort?
WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN FOR DOWN?
Ducks and geese are grabbed by their necks, their feet tied up and their feathers pulled right out of their sensitive skin often leaving open wounds behind which are either not treated at all or stitched up without any anesthesia. The pain is unbearable.
Their feathers are then used for the stuffing of jackets, pillows, doonas, etc., and sold for a good price.
It can be compared to tearing out someone’s hair out over and over again with full force. Leaving the open wounds as they are and leaving the individual behind in darkness and their misery. It is pure horror, it is hell on earth for the victims so someone can wear a piece of them to cover their body.
DON’T BE FOOLED BY “ETHICAL OR ECO-FRIENDLY” DOWN
“Ethically-sourced down” is to be claimed to come from “birds that have been raised and treated with decency” and live-plucking and force-feeding are prohibited (ideally, not realistically). This makes it somehow better? The animal industry does not even have the decency, to tell the whole truth.
It is also said that “birds must also be afforded the ‘Five Freedoms (freedom to stand up, lie down, turn around, groom themselves and stretch their limbs) regarding animal welfare’: freedom from hunger, thirst, discomfort, pain, injury, disease and fear, in addition to freedom to express normal animal behaviors.”, if this doesn’t make you angry and disgusted just reading it, I don’t know what else does? This is just ridiculously absurd and a straight lie. “Free from injury” - they are getting locked up against their will, killed and plucked, remember?
The way the animal industry defines “decent” in general, should be self-explanatory by now. Don’t forget, that this is still an industry that tries to sell you violence as something good, calling it “calm, serene, and blissful”. Companies state: “We ensure that these majestic animals live healthy lives, express innate behaviors, and won't suffer from pain, fear or distress”, abusing and killing animals, who feel pain just like we do.
Down-sellers want to make you believe that there is an ethical, good way, to buy a product that in their opinion does not completely hurt the animal and does not cause cruelty and suffering. However, the animals must be abused or dead for the product to be existing. The truth is that the so-called "ethical down" is an oxymoron, and here is the reason for it:
Innocent non-human animals are still bred into existence, forced to be confined and murdered in the end, plucked alive or dead. There is no right way of doing the wrong thing. There is no good way to lock someone up, take from them, and then kill them when they have served their time.
There is no such thing as “ethical down”, just as much as there is no “humane slaughter” or “ethical slaughter” when the act of taking advantage of somebody else's life, bodily autonomy, and inherent birthrights are unethical in the first place.
NEST STOLEN DOWN
The industry is trying to deceive people in every possible way and is always trying to find new ways to embellish something and still make a product of animal exploitation palatable to people.
As with the backyard eggs seducation and lie, the same applies here to–how it’s liked to be called–“nest harvested down” (imagine how much it takes to make a bedding). To get straight to the point: it is not ours, we steal it and it supports an exploitative industry by normalizing animal-derived sources which cause huge damage to sentient individuals and cycle of exploitation on a grand scale.
Shall I say even more, or did I make it crystal clear?
To state it one more time: we don’t need it, but the animals do. It is not our right to take it even if they don’t want it anymore. You can invest your money in actual ethical businesses who find no use and pleasure in exploiting animals in any possible way.
THE ADDITIONAL DOWN BUSINESS
Buying down can also support the cruelty of the foie gras industry. Producers of foie gras often boost their profits by selling the feathers of force-fed ducks and geese. These birds already have to endure having tubes rammed down their throats and their stomachs pumped full of so much corn mush that their livers swell to about 10 times their normal size, which is how foie gras is made.
SHOP CRUELTY-FREE
It is impossible to say whether the down used in the products you buy comes from birds plucked alive, no matter what labels say. In the end, it also does not matter, because either way they are held captive against their will, violently touched, and their bodily autonomy, rights, and freedom are violated and murdered. The only way to end the live-plucking, and to make sure that no birds suffer for your clothes or bedding and comfort, is to choose cruelty-free materials.
Down will never warm a cold heart. The blood is on the hands of those, who still pay for this industry to exist in the first place.
There are so many natural and animal-friendly materials like kapok (plant-fiber from the kapok tree, naturally biodegradable and hypoallergenic), organic cotton, eucalyptus fibre and hemp fibre, and even materials from recycled plastic water bottles that exist, which are used for filling to keep you cruelty-free warm, and cozy throughout the year.
WHAT DOWN REALLY IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE
Down is NOT a product of luxury, elegance, exquisiteness, and ethics–it never is and never will be! It is anything else than that. Down is the coat of a once sentient, living, and breathing individual who wanted to be mentally and physically free from pain and whose only wish was to live in peace, be happy, and be safe. Down products stand for bloody murder, suffering, pain, oppression, and abuse.
IS THEIR BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS?
The next time you hold a down product in your hands, remember their pain, remember their suffering, their terrible existence and that you may be supporting it with your actions. The next time you think about buying what belongs on their body and not to cover your cold heart, look at this Instagram post, and let my words sink in. Maybe it will make your heart compassionate and inspires you to choose an animal-free version so that you no longer put your comfort and convenience above the lives of others.
♥ Read about “About Empathy And Veganism, And How To Develop It”
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Please note:
* when the term “human” is used, then human animals are meant by it, and the same applies to the term “animal”, who are non-human animals.** text and illustrations are intellectual property of Kerstin Brueller. Sharing the content for private purposes is appreciated. It is prohibited to copy and share it for commercial purposes. Please contact me for a collaboration, if you are unsure or have any further questions. Thanks for your understanding.*** I personally care much about symbolism and the meaning of certain shapes and metaphors. The images and interpretations are the representation of my own imagination.