As I commute through campus daily, I can’t help but notice the incredible amount of students wearing Canada Goose coats. At a cost of over $700 I wonder if the students realize how Canada Goose “harvests” the coyote fur and down or if they care? For the coyote fur, Canada Goose employs trappers to provide them with the fur they need to make the coats.

Canada Goose’s commitment to “the humane treatment of animals” conflicts by their trappers’ use of The Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards’ approved body-gripping and leg-hold traps that prevent wild coyotes from escaping. These animals suffer in these traps for 24 to 72 hours. The coyotes face blood loss, shock, dehydration, frostbite, gangrene, and attacks by predators, if they don’t freeze to death. Mother coyotes, who are desperate to get back to their starving pups chew off their own limbs to escape the traps.

As for down, this product is also inhumanely obtained. It is impossible for Canada Goose to track feathers back to their original supplier and determine how they were obtained. Ducks and geese are usually plucked alive and spend their entire lives in crowded, filthy conditions on factory farms before being killed in a violent, painful way by having their throats slit while they are still conscious and able to feel pain. If this all seems too hard to believe, there is actual video of what the coyotes and birds are subjected to before they are killed for these coats.

In this 21st century, people can choose to be cruel and look the other way or be kind. With so many cruelty-free options available today that are durable, innovative, and warm, there is no need to use animal fur and goose down. Hopefully Canada Goose will transition the company to eco-friendly faux-fur trim and synthetic down in the near future, and people will be more aware of what they are buying and have compassion and not condone companies who profit handsomely from the misery and torture of animals.

Melanie Mahoney Stopyra