I was shocked while doing research for this article. Although I had a general idea about the behind the scenes of how leather products are made and I haven't bought leather for over 5 years now I never really looked into the reality of it all. But I find it important to talk about these things, no matter how hard it is, because it is our responsibility to raise awareness so that these horrible industries can't continue abusing innocent animals.
More than 2.29 billion animals are killed each year globally for their skin. Leather products are most commonly made from cows, but other species such as pigs, sheep, goats, crocodiles, deer, zebras and snakes are slaughtered to for their skin too. They are animals who are exploited for meat and their skin.
Cows, just like other animals like cats and dogs, are sentient and intelligent beings. They feel pain and grief the loss of their babies. Cows are tortured in this industry from a very young age. Their tails are often cut off and their faces are marked with hot irons, all while conscious and without any pain killers. Just like in the dairy industry, cows are dragged away from their mothers. Then the workers hold down the baby cows and tag them with a number on their ears or brand their faces using a hot iron.
A cow's natural life span is between 20-25 years, however in the leather industries cows are sent to the slaughterhouse after suffering for 3 years. In the slaughterhouse, workers hung them upside down, cut their throats and let them bleed out. Some cows are often still conscious and alive while their skin is being torn off. Back on the farm, the female cows are forced into small, restraining devices so that the farmers can forcibly impregnate or in other words rape her. That's how the cruel process begins again. Because of all the torture these cows endure, they are often very malnourished therefore unable to walk. Many of them suffer from eye or other infections and have broken bones.
Cars with leather interiors: To cover a regular car's interior 2-3 cow are killed, but some high end cars use as many as 9 cows. 45 million cows every year are killed just for the interiors of these cars!
By wearing leather products you are essentially a walking advertisement, promoting unnecessary cruelty and exploitation of innocent animals. Buying leather directly contributes to the meat and dairy industry, therefore supporting factory farming as well. Cruelty is a choice! Wearing and buying leather is unethical, unnecessary and by definition not vegan. Second hand or not it is a horrible industry to support! There have been and still are a lot of debates on whether or not vegans should wear and buy second hand leather, but I think if someone is an ethical vegan then this shouldn't even be a questions.
What about wearing old leather products (like a bag or shoes) after you went vegan or if you inherit something that's made of leather? The ethical vegan choice would be to donate it to a charity shop, give it to a friend who's not vegan. Some would say it's better to wear it while it is still in good shape, than getting rid of it, because that's wasteful and I somewhat agree. Although it would be wasteful to just throw that leather bag or shoes out, because the animal already died for it, however by donating to a charity shop you aren't actually just throwing it out. But I'm also not going to promote wearing leather, because that just brings us back to the fact that wearing it would make you a walking advertisement, which is not what we want. Once you know where and who the leather product in question came from you won't be comfortable wearing it.
Remember cruelty is a choice and you choose kindness over cruelty!
Watch this video to learn more!
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