Consumers shopping on Etsy for the holidays may be shocked to learn that the online marketplace sells products containing horsemeat and ejiao (gelatin made from boiling donkey hides).
Etsy should stop selling these items “in order to uphold animal welfare, better serve consumers, and abide by the company’s commitment to foster a sustainable and responsible marketplace,“ AWI wrote in a letter delivered last week to Etsy CEO Josh Silverman. AWI also flagged product listings using the company’s online reporting tool.
A recent AWI review of Etsy listings found a Kazakhstan-based vendor selling cans of ready-to-eat horsemeat stew in two separate listings (e.g., two 12-ounce cans for $51). The seller appears to allow shipping to the United States, even though the US Department of Agriculture does not allow horsemeat to be imported for human consumption.
Horse slaughter facilities cannot legally operate in the United States, but footage and images from horse slaughterhouses around the world have revealed horrific conditions and horses violently thrashing their necks in the “kill box” trying to escape.
Ejiao, which is used in cosmetics, supplements, and traditional remedies, is also readily available on Etsy. One listing by a California-based seller advertises a one-pound block of the donkey-hide gelatin for $435.
Increasing demand for ejiao is directly tied to the decimation of donkey populations worldwide. This trade also devastates the livelihoods of families in rural communities across the globe.
Many donkeys are stolen from families who rely on these trusted and loyal animals for transportation and farming. The animals are shoved into crowded trucks and typically face appalling transport conditions without water, food, or rest en route to slaughter.
With practically no oversight of the trade and only the hides considered valuable, there’s little incentive to provide care during transport. Infections or broken limbs are left untreated, and those who die in transport are often skinned on the spot—their remains discarded by the side of the road. Those who do survive are sometimes bludgeoned to death at journey’s end.
Ejiao products were banned from eBay in 2017. In 2023, as part of a legal settlement, Amazon agreed to stop selling ejiao products in California, but it continues to offer ejiao products elsewhere in the United States.
At the federal level, the bipartisan Ejiao Act (H.R. 6021), led by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), would prohibit the transport, sale, and purchase of products containing ejiao and of donkeys and donkey hides for the production of ejiao. Reintroduced in the House of Representatives last year, the bill has not yet advanced out of committee.
Etsy markets itself as a “community pushing for positive change for small businesses, people, and the planet.” The e-commerce company adopted a policy aimed at protecting endangered, threatened, and at-risk wildlife, but does not have a policy that specifically addresses threats to wild or domestic equines.
“Shoppers look to Etsy to find unique gifts for friends and family, particularly during the holiday season,” said Joanna Grossman, Ph.D., equine program director and senior policy advisor for AWI. “To see listings for horsemeat and ejiao is both shocking and troubling. We hope that Etsy will act quickly to ban these cruel products from its platform.”
The Animal Welfare Institute is a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 1951 and dedicated to alleviating animal suffering caused by people. We seek to improve the welfare of animals everywhere: in agriculture, in commerce, in our homes and communities, in research, and in the wild. Follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram for updates and other important animal protection news.
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