PETA Stages Wool Cruelty Protest at H&M's Putney Store

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Animal rights group hangs large banner from retailer's roof

Protestors got access to the roof of the shopping centre to hang the banner. Picture: PETA

October 29, 2026

Animal rights campaigners staged a protest at H&M’s Putney store, unfurling a large banner accusing the fashion retailer of using wool produced through the mistreatment of sheep.

The banner, which read “Sheep Kicked, Beaten and Killed for Wool. Don’t Buy It”, was dropped from the roof of the Exchange Shopping Centre by supporters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The demonstration follows a PETA Asia investigation at a wool farm in South Africa certified by NATIVA, a wool industry sustainability and traceability standard. PETA alleges that workers at the farm were filmed kicking and stomping on sheep, dragging lambs by their legs and leaving animals with serious wounds after shearing.

According to PETA, the farm supplied wool to H&M Group, which markets its wool as responsibly sourced. PETA is calling on H&M to stop selling wool and switch to alternatives that do not use animal-derived materials.

“Sensitive sheep face bloody, painful shearings and agonising deaths at the slaughterhouse – all for wool that we simply don’t need,” said Elisa Allen, PETA’s vice-president of programmes.

The organisation argues that even farms described as ethical or responsible can be associated with animal suffering. It says its investigations have exposed alleged cruelty at more than 150 wool industry operations across four continents.

The allegations made by PETA have not been independently established.

H&M has said that animal welfare is important to the company and that it sources animal-derived fibres only from certified farms and, where possible, from recycled sources.

In a statement following a separate PETA protest at a fashion show in September, an H&M spokesperson said: “Animal welfare is very important to us, and we agree with PETA that no animals should be harmed to make fashion.”

However, H&M has not publicly committed to stop using wool. Following a meeting with PETA representatives on 25 September to discuss the investigation, the animal rights group said it was disappointed that the company had made no commitment to end its use of the material. H&M declined to comment publicly on that meeting or whether it would take further action.

H&M’s published animal welfare policy states that it does not permit wool from farms that practise mulesing, a procedure involving the removal of strips of skin from around a sheep’s rear to help prevent flystrike. The company also set a target for all virgin animal hair and wool used in its products to come from farms certified to a recognised animal welfare standard by the end of 2025.

The protest in Putney is part of a wider PETA campaign against the use of wool in fashion. The group staged a disruption at H&M’s Autumn/Winter 2026 runway show during London Fashion Week last month, also calling for the retailer to stop selling wool.

H&M has not publicly provided a detailed response to the specific allegations about the South African farm. We have requested a comment from H&M on the Putney protest.

This is the second time in recent month that animal rights activists have targeted businesses in Putney. The opening of a new Pret a Manger was disrupted by a protest against so-called ‘Franken-chickens’ which are fast-growing birds designed to maximise the amount of meat. Pret claims that is working towards the highest standards of animal welfare in the industry.

 

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