Down, the soft breast feathers of live birds, is mixed with slaughterhouse feathers from ducks, geese and chickens to fill pillows and comforters at many hotels and in the making of some designer outerwear. The feathers originate on industrial farms where they are ripped from the bodies of live geese, leaving them bleeding in excruciating pain. Other feathers are byproducts of the foie gras industry, in which ducks and geese are force fed with metal tubes to create diseased livers for gourmet appetizers.

Investigator Marcus Mueller, who tracks the Hungarian brigades of feather strippers, describes the process: “The men and women from the brigades work without feeling, grabbing terrified geese by their wings or legs, sometimes breaking them, always hurting them, as they tear out the birds’ feathers. Manufacturers and retailers who say they don’t use down from live-plucked birds cannot prove their claim. Brigades go from farm to farm stripping the birds as they go, then the feathers are sold to brokers and middlemen who mix live-plucked feathers with those recovered from slaughtered animals.”

• Do not buy a coat, comforter, pillow, or any other clothing, bedding, or jewelry that is filled or decorated with feathers, down, fleece or fur. Read labels. When making hotel reservations, arrange for foam-filled pillows and comforters in your room, and check the bedding tags to be sure they are labeled polyester. Politely inform store clerks and hotel personnel that you are ALLERGIC TO ANIMAL ABUSE and that their “feathers” policy will influence your future patronage. Kindly give them a copy of our handout “Birds Suffer Horribly for Pillows & Coats.”
  
  
• Urge Marriott International and Nordstrom Department Stores to replace their feather/down products with products made of polyester and other synthetic fillers.
  
  Marriott International, Inc.
  Arne M. Sorenson , President and CEO
  J.W. Marriott, Jr., Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board
  Felicia McLemore, Director of Global Corporate Relations
  (felicia.mclemore@marriott.com)
  
  Corporate Headquarters:
  Marriott International, Inc.
  10400 Fernwood Road
  Bethesda, Maryland 20817-1102
  301-380-3000
  
  Customer Service phone in the USA/Canada: 1-800-721-7033
  Fax in USA/Canada: 1-801-468-4033
  
  Nordstrom
  Blake W. Nordstrom, CEO
  (blake.nordstrom@nordstrom.com)
  Phone: 1-206-628-2111
  
  Brooke White, Vice President, Corporate Communications (brooke.white@nordstrom.com)
  Nordstrom Customer Service phone: U.S.: 1-888-282-6060 Canada: 1-877-794-5304
  
  Corporate Headquarters:
  Nordstrom Direct Inquiries
  1600 Seventh Avenue, Suite 2600
  Seattle, WA 98101
  E-mail: contact@nordstrom.com