People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has submitted a concerned-shareholder resolution to the RH Company, requesting clarification about the sourcing of down feathers for its products.

PETA said it owns stock in the home furnishing chain RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, and the animal welfare group would like to see “more transparency” behind the company’s claim that it only uses “responsibly sourced” feathers, as it claims on its corporate website.

The PETA resolution calls for greater sourcing transparency so that both PETA members and RH customers can be assured that there are no animal welfare violations happening in RH’s supply chain, PETA spokesperson Robin Goist said.

On the company’s customer-facing website, it states that down feathers for some products come from Europe and “some of the finest regions in the world,” without clarifying which parts of the continent. Jacqui Sadashigi, corporate responsibility officer for PETA, says that some countries in Europe do not adhere to humane processes.

There are concerns that animals could be de-feathered while still alive — or scalded to death in defeathering tanks, Goist said.

RH is based out of Corte Madera and did not respond to a request for comment.

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.