Using language that portrays animals as inanimate objects—such as referring to them as “it”—desensitizes the public and paves the way for the complacent acceptance of cruelty to animals. Respect matters!

When PETA released footage in 2019 showing frightened goats in China and Mongolia crying out in pain as their hair was ripped out with metal combs, consumers were appalled and companies were left scrambling. Dozens of brands cut ties with the cashmere industry, but others devised ways to keep right on selling it, hiding behind sham animal welfare “standards.”