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Leather
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Some argue that there is no harm in wearing leather since the cows (or other animals) used to produce it are already dead, i.e. slaughtered for their meat. However, the animals are dead because there is a demand for their flesh and skin. If the demand for meat and leather decreases, fewer animals will be killed. Thus turning away from leather and toward more humane alternatives will save animal lives.
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Factory Farming
Leather is inextricably linked to the modern day factory farming system, an industrial process in which animals and the products they generate are mass-produced. The animals are seen not as individual, sentient beings with unique physical and psychological needs but as a means to an end- meat, leather, and so on. Because factory farming is a business, its goal is to maximize production and, consequently, profit. And since the animals are seen as mere commodities in this quest, they are bred, fed, confined, and drugged to lay more eggs, birth more offspring, and die with more meat on their bones. Farmers cut costs by feeding animals the remains of other animals, keeping them in extremely small and soiled enclosures, and refusing to provide bedding. Because animals live in such a manner and are denied normal social interactions, they experience boredom and stress so great that it leads to unnatural aggression and even self-mutilation.
Most leather comes from factory farmed dairy cows and veal cows.
Dairy cows live in crowded pens or barns with concrete floors. Milking machines often cut them and cause other injuries. Some give them electrical shocks, which cause extreme pain and even death. Dairy cows are forced to produce 10 times more milk than they would produce in nature. As a result, they experience numerous health problems. After dairy cows give birth, their calves are separated from them, a practice which causes cows great sadness: they can be heard bellowing for their young. Cows normally live 20 to 25 years or more; dairy cows are slaughtered when they are three to five years old.
Veal calves live in small wooden crates; some are chained. They cannot turn around or even stretch their legs. The floors of their stalls are slatted, causing them severe joint and leg pain. Since their mother's milk is taken for human consumption, they are fed a milk substitute deficient in iron and fiber. In other words, they are deliberately kept anemic, and their muscles are atrophied so that their flesh will be pale and tender. Craving iron, they lick the metallic parts of their stalls, even those covered in urine. Water is often withheld from them. Some are killed when they are only a few days old to be sold as low grade veal for frozen dinners and the like. The rest are slaughtered when they are 16 weeks old; they are frequently too sick or crippled to walk. Ten percent of veal cows die in confinement.
Cattle raised for beef are also used to make leather. They are burned with a hot iron brand without anesthetic so that is clear who "owns" them. Beef cattle are also subjected to "waddling," during which ranchers cut chunks out of the hide (that hangs under their neck) for identification purposes. Finally, they are castrated and de-horned without anesthetic.
Approximately 250 cows are killed every hour at the typical beef
slaughterhouse. Because workers are in a rush to stay on schedule and kill such a large number of animals in such a short period of time, the animals are often treated rather cruelly. To accustom themselves to life at the slaughterhouse, workers must become desensitized to the animals' suffering and conceive of these sentient creatures as mere objects; this conceptualization obviously leads to inhumane treatment. Moreover, the turnover rate at slaughterhouses is so high that there are a lot of new, inexperienced technicians who cannot properly sedate cows, among other things. Although cattle are supposed to be rendered unconscious before being killed, workers frequently do not successfully "stun" the animals. As a result, conscious, struggling cows are hung upside down. Their throats are then cut.
Transportation
Cows killed to make leather are crammed on to trucks and driven to slaughter. They are frequently deprived of adequate food and water during the trip. The cows are exposed to harsh weather conditions and given little, if any, protection. Frightened and often times injured, they receive no veterinary care. As a result, many die before reaching the slaughterhouse.
Indian Leather
Much of the leather sold in the U.S. comes from overseas, where cows are beaten violently, especially in India. It is only legal to slaughter cows in a few states in India; therefore, cattle often must
travel hundreds of miles in the hot sun to the states where such slaughter is lawful. During the trip, cows, buffaloes, and other animals killed for their skin travel on foot without food and water and with minimal time to rest. Their hooves are often bleeding and worn down to stumps, and they often collapse from exhaustion. Handlers deliberately break their tails and rub tobacco and chili peppers into their eyes to force them on.
Cows who are transported by overcrowded trucks inadvertently gouge and blind one another with their horns. When they are unloaded, the cows that can still stand are pulled or forced to jump from the trucks; they frequently break their legs and pelvises in the process. Those who have collapsed are dragged from the vehicles; other cows are then unloaded on top of them.
The cows' throats are slit in the slaughterhouse. Some have their legs cut off while they are still conscious. Others are skinned alive.
The source of most of the leather sold in the U.S. is unknown. Therefore, most consumers will never know from which country their leather garment originated nor what type of animal was killed to make it.
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Some of the Animals Killed to Make Leather
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Cows
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Alligators
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Crocodiles
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Horses
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Sheep
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Lambs
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Pigs
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Goats
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Ostriches
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Dogs
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Cats
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The Environment
Leather production harms the environment in several ways. First, tanning prevents leather from biodegrading. Tanneries use toxic substances to tan leather, and tannery effluent contains large amounts of other pollutants, such as protein, hair, salt, lime sludge, sulfides, and acids. Hazardous substances like formaldehyde, coal tar derivatives, mineral salts, oils, dyes and finishes are used to turn animal skin into leather; some of them are cyanide based. Tanneries release elevated levels of lead, cyanide, and formaldehyde into the ground water. Such high levels result in increased rates of leukemia.
The leather industry is inextricably tied to the meat industry, as the majority of cows used to make leather are dairy and veal cows who live on factory farms. Factory farms consume enormous quantities of fossil fuels, water, land, and other resources. They are filled with noxious fumes, dust, bacteria, and decaying feces, all of which they release into the environment. Animal wastes carry pesticides, bacteria and viruses; the wastes pollute drinking water with high levels of nitrates, which can be potentially fatal to infants.
You Can Help
Leather Alternatives
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