LONDON – Fashion retailer Marks & Spencer has announced that it will phase out the limited use of alpaca wool within its apparel range, having been made aware of cases of animal cruelty at farm-level.
Animal rights organisation PETA – whose motto in part reads ‘animals are not ours to wear’ – has appealed to all fashion brands and retailers to ban the use of alpaca wool after its exposé of Mallkini, the world’s largest privately-owned alpaca farm in Peru, unearthed that these animals are roughly shorn and left with deep wounds.
“Marks & Spencer’s decision will prevent many alpacas from being tormented for their wool,” said PETA director of corporate projects, Yvonne Taylor, welcoming the decision.