Karakul Lamb Fur: Cruelty on the Catwalk

As if peddling the skin and fur of a tortured, electrocuted adult animal weren%u2019t bad enough, some heartless designers take fashion cruelty to a whole new level with a particularly grisly %u201Ckiller%u201D look: astrakhan, also known as %u201Cbroadtail%u201D or %u201CPersian wool%u201D%u2014the fur of newborn and fetal karakul lambs who are bred by the thousands in Central Asia for the bloody fur trade.

Because their unique, highly prized curly fur begins to unwind and straighten within three days of birth, many karakul lambs are slaughtered when they are only 1 or 2 days old. The rest don%u2019t even make it that far. In order to get a karakul fetus%u2019s hide%u2014called %u201Cbroadtail%u201D in the industry and valued for its exceptional smoothness%u2014the mother%u2019s throat is slit and her stomach slashed open to remove the developing lamb. A mother typically gives birth to three lambs before being slaughtered along with her fourth fetus, about 15 to 30 days before it is due to be born. As many as 4 million karakul lambs are slaughtered for their fur every year.

All for the name of Fashion.
We the undersigned urge you to think about what you are doing and to please put a stop to it. There is no need for it.