Canada Goose pulls claims about its ‘ethical’ treatment of animals

Canada Goose has quietly stepped away from bold guarantees about the “ethical” treatment of animals it uses for its pricey outerwear, The Post has learned.

The Toronto-based coat company — which for more than a year has faced a probe by the Federal Trade Commission over allegations of false advertising — has made sweeping changes to its website and other marketing materials about its animal sourcing standards, documents show.

Stealthy fixes include the scrubbing of promises that Canada Goose — which has long filled its $900 jackets with goose down and trims the hoods with coyote fur — only uses coyotes from overpopulated areas where they attack “pets and sometimes even people,” documents show.

Canada Goose likewise removed from its site a promotional “down traceability” video. The segment, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, had featured an ex-supplier whose workers were later caught on camera roughly grabbing geese by their necks, cramming them into cramped cages and even stepping on them as they piled up in corners trying to flee.

Canada Goose denies that the PETA video captured practices tied to their suppliers. “Neither the farm nor the animals and the treatment of them shown in the video manufactured by PETA were a part of the Canada Goose supply chain.”

Nevertheless, PETA handed their video to the FTC in 2017, which they say triggered the agency’s probe.

“We are glad that the company was required to remove these false assertions, but not much has changed for the brand otherwise,” said Jared Goodman, deputy general counsel for PETA Foundation.

It’s unclear exactly when Canada Goose made the changes to its site, but a June 17 letter from the FTC to the coat maker shows that at least some of the walked-back claims helped close a probe into the company’s allegedly loosey-goosey advertising.

“We considered a number of factors, including the prompt corrective action taken by Canada Goose, such as removing the advertising claims at issue from the marketplace,” the FTC’s letter closing the probe said.

“The changes to our website were not made at the behest of the FTC, and the FTC did not reach any conclusions regarding whether any prior statements were misleading,” Canada Goose said in a statement. “We are appalled by the gross mischaracterization of our long-standing ethical sourcing standards which have only strengthened over time and become more robust.”

In addition to removing claims that it only uses coyotes from overpopulated areas in the Northwest US and Canada where they’re considered “pests,” Canada Goose has scrubbed the word “ensure” when speaking of its “ethical sourcing” of animal parts, instead saying it has a “commitment” to the practice.

In addition to the video of the goose farm, which shows some birds at the bottom of the piles suffocating to death, PETA shot another video about Canada Goose’s trapping standards, showing trappers bludgeoning, stomping on and shooting trapped coyotes. PETA claimed the animals can be caught for as long as 72 hours before trappers arrive.

“As always, we remain deeply committed to the ethical sourcing and responsible use of all animal materials in our products,” Canada Goose added. “We are pleased to see that the FTC is satisfied with our communications regarding our commitment to the humane treatment of animals.”

Canada Goose appears to be moving away from using fur on its coats for a host of reasons, including impending fur bans in California and New York City and growing consumer distaste for fur, sources said.

The company “is currently in the process of diversifying its product offerings towards categories that do not use its signature coyote fur,” said Sam Poser, research analyst with Susquehanna International.

“Specifically, management called out knitwear, which primarily uses wool, as one category gaining momentum,” said Poser in a research note.

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