LEATHER IS NOT YOUR SKIN TO WEAR
The way we see leather is with great distance and disconnection (by also using an euphemism) with what it is, or better said Whom: the skin of another once lively individual, most likely of a cow, pulled over our skin.
What a switch in perspective, isn’t it?
Leather is often made of cows’ skin, it can also be made from the skin of pigs, goats, sheep, dogs, and cats as well as crocodiles, ostriches, and other “exotic” animals. You can’t buy a leather jacket without sentencing animals to death. The leather industry claims billions of lives each year.
AWARENESS OF WHAT LEATHER IS
Leather, it has always been taught to me being a textile of high-quality. I was taught to believe it this way and not question those facts because that is just how it is. Leather simply was existing for me like cotton was. It was here and it was the most expensive and if it was not expensive then it was a “great bargain” for something also called the most durable and sustainable.
It wasn’t until I went vegan that I started to think about leather and did my research on it and noticed it as an animal-derived product. I was truly shocked by how little I knew about it and how disconnected my thoughts were from what it is - knowing what it is but not finding anything wrong with it. I wasn’t aware of the victim behind it, I never thought of their life, their feelings, the pain and suffering they have to go through to be killed for a bag, coat, a pair of gloves, shoes, or even the steering wheel of a car.
I never knew how much cruelty leather causes to those born an oppressed and exploited species. I never knew how vile and disgusting it is, and how many myths and lies are circling to keep people in the dark to believe it to be a product of quality and see it as something good and sustainable because it is a specified side-product and “at least the animal didn’t just die for the meat”. So we all get taught … burnt into our brains since we entered this world, by society who gets pulled by the strings of the animal agriculture industry lobby.
The leather and fur industry are two of the most exploitative and cruel industries on the planet. The suffering and cruelty done to sentient beings are unimaginably unbearable for the individual. They are kept in cages, which are often smaller than their bodies or share a small cramped cage with others, dwelling in their feces- and mud-filled holding pens, suffering, separated from their families, branded with a hot iron (a third-degree burn), they are getting castrated and have to undergo tail-docking and dehorning and receive poor, inadequate, or no veterinary care. They are also fed a steady diet of hormones to fatten them and antibiotics to keep them alive in extremely poor living conditions.
Animals raised for the animal skin production industry are suffering immensely from physical as well as mental diseases and pain. It is pure violence and cruelty.
Cows, just like all other non-human animals are sentient beings on this planet, value their life. They have a consciousness, feel pain, and don’t want to die. They are social individuals who have families, close friends, and acquaintances, just like we do. They play with others, are joyful and active - they just want to live.
When humans wear their skin, their life has been stolen from them.
THE SKIN OF UNBORN CALVES
Many don’t know that leather may even come from unborn calves, which is called slink or slunk leather and is known to be the softest just like a human baby’s skin. Mother cows are being sent to the slaughterhouse pregnant to be killed, only a few days away from birthing. Her babies, especially male ones called “bobby calves” are seen as waste products of the dairy industry and are cut out of their mother’s body often still alive. Some of them get aborted on purpose to not waste any time or profits.
Due to time and costs, animals' necks are cut, metal rods are pushed through their spines, or they are skinned alive without anesthesia. Individuals suffer in pain for hours awaiting their death even after the skinning.
LEATHER IS NOT A BY-PRODUCT, WE ARE CONDITIONED TO THINK IT IS
Leather, the skin of individuals, is wrongly labeled a by-product. This myth has been around forever to justify the atrocities done to innocent animals. It is falsely communicated to be something available anyway and used to “at least” continue to use a murdered individual so that “they had at least a purpose to get killed”. How sick is this belief? Seriously ...
“If I kill somebody (or pay for their murder by purchasing something of animal-derived sources), I dismember them and use every part of their body so their murder had a meaning and purpose”. What does that even mean? I mean think about it. What if we were talking about dogs or humans here? Would you feel the same?
Killing alone is unethical and simply wrong, all that tries to justify it is to blandish and satisfy one’s bad conscience because we know that it is wrong. We just don’t like to admit to it, because it comes with changes many don’t want to face, and therefore try to find a (selfish) reasoning in someone’s murder to calm their conscience and their minds.
THIS is what we need to acknowledge and reflect on.
♥ Read About “Have The Courage To Be Disliked Due To Moral Agency And Ethical Principles”
ANIMAL SKIN TREATMENT AND PRODUCTION
Once the animal is killed, his/her skin undergoes many processes to become the final “product.”
Tanneries around the world use hazardous substances and release tons of toxins into the groundwater which do not undergo any treatment, to prepare and further process the animals' skin. This makes it one of the most polluting and dangerous products to humans and the planet.
Also the leather industry shares responsibility for all the environmental destruction caused by the meat industry, just like rainforest destruction, water pollution, therefore world hunger, the release of methane gas which is known to contribute to climate change, and a huge volume of waste and excrements, etc.
♥ Read About “The Vicious Circle Of Zoonotic Diseases”
♥ Cowspiracy Documentary
THE FRAUD OF SUSTAINABLE LEATHER
(Addendum; February 10, 2021)
Leather will NEVER be an animal-friendly product because it is made of the skin of a murdered animal. The trend has been toward so-called “sustainable leather,” which is often incorrectly equated with a “better,” and more “humane” method of depriving animals of their right to exist.
To clarify misstatements and misunderstandings, it must be said that “sustainable” means absolutely NOTHING to the sentient animals. The choice of words “environmentally friendly” and “sustainable” is typically marketing or consumer communication to make leather (animal skin) sound better to tame the bad conscience of people. This kind of language and communication is highly ambiguous and has led to the misunderstanding all across the world that the hides or skins of murdered animals come from organically raised animals (who also get murdered).
“There is no official terminology for organic leather,” even the Leather Working Group, a pro-animal skin manufacturer, says on their website. … Okay!?
So what the hell is this “sustainable leather” now? It is stated:
How the leather is manufactured
The inputs used to manufacture it
➸ Basically saying NOTHING at all.
But to clarify it a bit more. It simply means that the skin of animals may come as a byproduct of the animal flesh industry (meat) and it was tanned with vegetables instead of chemicals. Again, this means nothing for the animals!
Watch out for commonly used terms like “leather tanned with veggies” and “recycled leather,” which are often used to make a product of animal cruelty sound better.
LEATHER HAPTIC MATERIALS FROM PLANT SOURCES
Nowadays leather can be made from various materials. The most common ones are synthetic materials like PVC or PU, but due to the environmental impact of chemicals used, the awareness and interest in natural and eco-friendly materials are constantly on the rise.
Natural and eco-friendly materials for vegan leather can be sourced from plants and fruits like cacti, cork, mushrooms (MuSkin), pineapples (leaf fiber: piñatex), banana leaf fiber, and even from apple peels.
Also paper, timber, Hana plant (agave leaves), teak leaves, and even grape peels, seeds, and recycled coffee ground. These plant-derived materials may indeed be byproducts of food companies. Some materials are more 'leather-like' than others. The options and creativity to produce sustainable eco-friendly leather are endless.
So I’m asking you: Why the hell are You directly harming and murdering animals with your choices if you don’t need to?
It is simply cruel. Stop wearing animal leather and start looking for plant-based leather products - or simply skip it. You don’t need to wear any animal skin, hair, or bodies, but the animals need.
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NOT YET VEGAN?
Please check this page and make the change!
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Please note:
* when the term "human" is used, then human animals are meant by it, and the same applies to the term "animal", who are non-human animals.** text and illustrations are intellectual property of Kerstin Brueller. Sharing the content for private purposes is appreciated. It is prohibited to copy and share it for commercial purposes. Please contact me for a collaboration, if you are unsure or have any further questions. Thanks for your understanding.*** I personally care much about symbolism and the meaning of certain shapes and metaphors. The images and interpretations are the representation of my own imagination.