“There is no excuse for violent shearing methods and inhumane slaughter.”

These words were part of a recent announcement by clothing chain Patagonia that it’s severing ties with Argentine sheep ranch network Ovis 21. This, after a PETA video uncovered shocking abuse of sheep and lambs on two of Ovis’ network ranches, including routine cutting of ears, tails, and genitals without medication, and sheep being skinned alive. Stella McCartney also stopped sourcing its wool from Ovis 21 upon release of the video.

We commend these brands for pulling out when they saw evidence of animal abuse, and for reaffirming their commitment to an ethical supply chain. Even Ovis 21 has issued a statement promising that they had no idea this abuse was taking place, and they have since cut all ties with the farms in question. But there’s a big problem here -- if none of the companies had knowledge of the gruesome cruelty going on on their watch, and blame continues to be handed down the line, how can we ever trust that our “ethical” merchandise, for which we pay a steep premium, is ethical at all?

In light of this shocking video, we want to start with wool supplier Ovis 21 and ask it to go beyond an apology. We’re asking Ovis 21 to provide a guarantee that this abuse will never happen again, on any of the farms in its network.

This is just one of numerous discoveries of supplier deceit. McDonald’s, Chick Fil-A, and Kraft Foods are a few of the corporations that have experienced blowback after animal abuse was uncovered in their supply chain. Incidents like this are crucial reminders that, in big business, labels like “sustainable” and “cruelty-free” are rarely straightforward. Companies need to move beyond empty promises that these ‘oversights’ won’t happen again, own up to what went wrong - be it indifference or incompetence -- and set up assurances that it won’t happen again.

Ovis 21 is still a large supplier of lambs and sheep for wool. We are calling on it to implement a comprehensive process to assure us that animals are being well-treated throughout its network. This means paying for third-party investigators to do routine checks on all of its farms. It may cost Ovis 21 some money, but consumers are getting smart to this supplier deceit, and if you don’t provide us with clear guarantees of ethical practices, we will no longer support you.

Please join me in calling on Ovis 21 to lead the way in providing transparent guarantees of its “sustainable” and “animal-friendly” farming practices. With today’s consumer, mere apologies will no longer cut it.