Lululemon’s Sale of Goose Down Triggers PETA Shareholder Resolution

PETA Urges Executives, Board Members to Stop Supporting Cruel Treatment of Geese on Factory Farms

For Immediate Release:
June 2, 2015

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382

Athletic apparel company Lululemon refuses to drop down feathers from its lines despite knowing that birds used for down suffer on farms, primarily in China, where there are no laws regulating their treatment. And regardless of how the feathers are obtained—whether they’re plucked from birds’ bodies while they’re still alive or come from birds who are killed for their flesh or foie gras—all geese used for down spend their entire lives in crowded, filthy conditions on factory farms before being violently and painfully killed.

That’s why at Lululemon’s annual meeting on Wednesday, PETA—which owns stock in the company—will speak in support of its shareholder resolution calling for a company ban on down:

When:        Wednesday, June 3, 12 p.m.

Where:       Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, 900 Canada Pl., Vancouver

As revealed in a video exposé of down by PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—workers typically lift the birds by their necks or delicate wings, pin the animals between their knees, and rip the feathers out of struggling birds’ skin. They’re often plucked so hard that their skin is torn open, and the hurried workers sew up the wounds with a needle and thread—without painkillers. Buying down may also support the cruelty of the foie gras industry, as producers often boost their profits by selling the feathers of the ducks and geese who are force-fed by having tubes rammed down their throats until their livers become diseased and swell to up to 10 times their normal size.

Modern, high-tech synthetics are widely available, including at Lululemon, which already offers some PrimaLoft-filled jackets. They’re also warm, cozy, and allergen-free, and they don’t collect the dust and mould that down does. And unlike down, they still insulate when wet.

PETA’s full resolution for Lululemon is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.