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Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1  While I do not usually like to get my research done from Google, I think I did find enough information to answer my own question about China's involvement in Angora production. Seems that China got involved around 1976.... the promise of making a lot of money was the driving factor.....and they have quickly become the major producer of this fiber, which they sell all over Europe, Asia, etc.
How utterly unfortunate.....I can not with a clear conscience, do anything to promote the production of anything that savages animals like the Chinese do. From what I gathered with a quick read, the Chinese have flooded the market with the wool, and the price and quality of the fiber has diminished substantially......I am confident when it no longer becomes profitable for them to produce the wool, they will abandon this venture. I will no longer support the production of Angora fiber from rabbits raised in China....this is totally unacceptable to me. Perhaps if the demand drops off enough, the countries that buy all their Angora fiber from China will cease and desist and return to raising their own rabbits for Angora......if they dont, well, I have a couple of sweaters made from Angora from New Zealand, and England.....they will have to do. |
Yes, it does sound like the quality has dropped since China got in the market. People on this and the other thread were not all that fond of angora anyway, but I remember it as a really quality product, and Christmas was a perfect time to receive such a gift. This was a good 10 years before China got involved. You said earlier that the quality isn't as good if you damage the fibers by ripping and that's what may be happening. I wonder if it would be better to approach China from that standpoint, you'll get a better product, and you can sell it for money, if you remove the hair a different way? I have such mixed feelings about all this, if no one is using them and breeding them, will they go extinct? I would hate that to happen too.