Country Road Group is committed to maintaining high ethical standards throughout the supply chain and we work with our suppliers to ensure these standards are met as part of our broader corporate social responsibility strategy.
As retailers, we expect our suppliers to treat all animals in the supply chain humanely and with respect. More specifically, we require and expect:
- Animals are to be slaughtered humanely* to ensure minimum distress;
- Animal products used for general merchandise (e.g. clothing and homeware) are to be byproducts of other industries;
- Animal skins and fibres must not be obtained by live skinning or plucking or be a product of unnatural abortions;
- Products, including skincare and cosmetics, must not be tested on animals. The raw materials used in these products also must not be tested on animals, unless explicitly required to meet statutory and or regulatory requirements, e.g. REACH;
- Fur and farmed fur must not be used. However, shearling and hair on leather, which are byproducts of other industries, may be used;
- Endangered species which appear on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) or the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, must not be used; and
- Pet accessories are to be developed in collaboration with animal welfare experts.
The RSPCA’s definition of humane killing is: ‘an animal must be either killed instantly or rendered insensible to pain until death supervenes’.