When the notorious PETA video was released last year, some of us were skeptical about it. That brutal method of harvesting Angora fur did not make sense, because animals so horribly stressed are more likely to die prematurely, and therefore mature wool producers would be removed from production. That method would cause damage to fur follicles, and reduce the density of subsequent coats. When the time and cost of getting an animal to maturity and its optimum wool production phase is considered, handling the rabbits humanely will yield better returns.

However, it cannot be denied that China, on the whole, has a poor reputation with regard to animal husbandry. Some of its own people suffer from the same lack of regard for kindness and humanity towards each other, and because their lives are so hard, mere survival is their only concern. (America’s immediate southern neighbor, Mexico, faces the same issues.) Let us remember, though, that China also has many people of noble character who do care about ethics and humane issues.

Off-topic observation: While Americans are quick to condemn cruelty towards animals, and are especially quick to condemn cruelty towards animals and children in other countries, including female genital mutilation, they cast a blind eye towards one of their own most egregious human rights violations: forced genital cutting (aka “circumcision” of baby boys. Most European boys are left intact and natural, and Europeans look upon Americans in horror for this in the same way that Americans look upon societies that do forced genital cutting on girls. Foreskin is not a birth defect! Learn more at Circumcision Decision Maker.

Curious to know what the long term effects of the PETA video have been, I contacted two buyers of Chinese Angora for an update. Michael Dal Grande of Germany is a wholesale, international purchaser of animal fibers. I received the following information from him:

The PETA campaign had some impact here in Europe and I suppose also in the states, whereas the countries in Northern Europe have been more reluctant than the ones in the South.

Big retailers like HM (Sweden) have withdrawn whereas Zara (Spain) continues. Consumers are quite sceptic towards PETA but the big fashion groups are often scared of bad press/image.

But all in all the turnover in angora is less than last year.

In China itself there was no impact at all. All fibre produced is absorbed by the local industry and more than 50% Chinas production remains within the country. With an growing Middle Class angora sweaters are affordable for a lot of people and very often an alternative to very expensive cashmere sweaters.

The quantity of rabbits was sinking the last years despite the high prices for the fibre simply because of the rising living standard � for the younger generation it is more attractive to find a job in one of the big cities than raising rabbits. Same situation we have in silk and camel hair.

To meet the requirements of our European clients we have launched the “Caregora” fibre which is based on the British DEFRA standard and gives a high standard in raising rabbits and producing fibre.

[Michael Dal Grande. (2014, October 13). Retrieved from email inquiry.]

William Sichel is a famous ultramarathon runner from Scotland, who has a family-run Angora fiber business, for which fiber is purchased from a Chinese Angora farm. William visited that farm to evaluate the care and handling of its rabbits, and applying the UK�s Code of Welfare for Farm Animals with his evaluation, he was satisfied. Here is a news report about that trip. The Orkney Angora website includes a link to this video that William took of Angora Rabbit wool harvesting at the farm. William provided this response to my inquiry about effects of the PETA video:

We too were concerned about the ethical Chinese farmers and their rabbits.

It is very difficult to answer your question.
When I visited in February the large farm I visited said their trade had been affected but they also had a large home market especially for dehaired angora.
Everything seemed to be in full swing.

We are also in touch with Mercy Corps who operate in other parts of China – mainly with very small angora farmers.

We are not clear on how much any lost trade has affected the farmers.

[William Sichel. (2014, October 12). Retrieved from email inquiry.]

My concerns that the PETA video may have caused extreme hardship for those Chinese Angora farmers who are ethical are mostly alleviated. One other side effect we are seeing is that some members of the American public now assume that all Angora fiber is harvested inhumanely, and so we hobbyist Angora Rabbit owners continue to educate people about how our animals are either sheared, or gently plucked when the rabbit naturally molts.

Recommended: Video of workers in China shearing Angora rabbit fur.