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| Image by terrmith.deviantart.com |
---I DON'T STAND A CHANCE!!!
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| Image by Yogurinha Borova from Flickr |
I do not understand the
sexual prowess of leather. How does such cruelly produced material cause arousal
and is today an unofficial symbol of S & M, Goth, erotic fashion and other
fetishes. There is actually a term called ‘Leather subculture’. When I see men
and women strut their stuff in leather all I can think of are factory farms and slaughter houses where animals are thrown together like stones. Billions of
animals are slaughtered every year for the leather industry [1]. Mostly the
animals are kept in miserable conditions like crowding, confinement,
unanesthetized castration, dehorning, brutal transport and slaughter.
Since prehistoric times man
has used leather for various purposes. In recorded history, pieces of leather
dating from 1300 BC have been found in Egypt [2]. It is believed that
primitive societies in Europe, Asia and North America
developed techniques of using leather in garments, independent of one another.
Later through unknown measures man learnt to preserve and soften leather treating
animal skins with smoke, grease and bark extracts. Probably the art of tanning
leather using oils from barks of trees (vegetable tanning) originated amongst
the Hebrews [2]. In the 19th century vegetable tanning was supplemented
by polluting chromium tanning and today chrome tanning has become predominant.
Most common leather source is
cows and calves skin but it is also sourced from horse, sheep, pigs, lambs and
goats. More exotic sources include snake, crocodiles, bison, kangaroos, seals,
dolphins, frogs, lizards, elephants and zebras. Alligators are farmed
specifically for their skins. One Georgia farmer had 10,000
alligators living in four buildings where hundreds of them filled every inch of
each room [3]. Life span of alligators is 60 years but on farms they are
butchered before they turn 2 years old [4]. They are beaten to death by a
hammer or axe and sometimes die a slow death after being skinned alive.
It is shocking that in our
society we have rules of killing animals in the name of style and fashion. In Australia the
law states that kangaroos should be shot, although orphaned joeys and wounded
adults are required to be decapitated or sharply hit on the head to destroy the
brain [5]. Millions of kangaroos are butchered every year as their skin is main
material of soccer shoes [6]. Snakes and lizards are skinned alive in many
cases as it is supposed to make exotic leather suppler. Unborn calves and lambs
are aborted or are obtained after killing of pregnant mothers and their skin is
considered ‘luxurious’ [4]. Kid goats are boiled alive to make gloves [4].
Mostly hides for leather come
from countries like India
and China
where animal rights are non-existent [7]. Old dairy cows are sold for their
skins and calves are also raised for their skin. In India dozens of cows are
transported in crammed conditions in trucks on bad roads, to the slaughter
houses. Often they are killed carelessly and brutally.
Besides the animal cruelty
that is caused by the leather industry, it also has a huge adverse environmental
impact. Large tracts of land are cleared of trees to raise cattle and large
amount of fossil fuels are required for livestock. Due to great number of
animals in a single farm there is a lot of excreta produced as well. The
excreta from cattle releases methane gas which is ~21 times more potent
greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Run offs from feedlots and dairy farms is a
major source of water pollution.
Tanneries are top polluters
in the Environment protection Agency list [7]. Old tannery sites cannot be used
for agriculture or be sold. As mentioned earlier, today leather is mostly
chemically tanned using Chromium. It is estimated that a single chromium
tanning facility uses up ~15,000 gallons of water and generates 2,200 pounds of
solid waste for each ton of hide it processes [8]. In addition other pollutants
released due to tanning are hair, flesh, salt, lime, sludge, acids and sulfides
[8]. Leather finishing too requires many polluting substances such as formaldehyde,
coal-tar derivatives, oils, dyes, finishes which are cyanide-based and mineral
salts [4].
Leather industry pollution
has lead to many health problems amongst humans. Arsenic which is a
commonly used tannery chemical is associated with lung cancer for workers who
are exposed to it for long. Many studies have established links between sinuses
and lung cancers with the chromium used in tanning process [9].The Centre for
Disease Control and Prevention in America
found that the incidence of leukemia amongst residents in an area surrounding
one tannery in Kentucky
was five times the national average [10]. Moreover the chemicals which get
released in water get bio-magnified and are dangerous for humans and
biodiversity.
Why wear leather when there
are so many more options which are fashionable as well. There is chemical
leather available in the market now. Chlorenol is a synthetic material superior
to leather in many ways. It is breathable, has a similar stretch as leather and
is used for athletics and hiking shoes by many sports companies. There is a
product called vegan microfiber which is equivalent to leather in strength and
durability [7]. The market for environment friendly gear is on a rise and there
is so much to choose from today.
Leather is harmful for the environment, for
the animals and for the people who make it. Let us not be seduced by the sexual
leather culture and dress with a conscience.
References
[1] Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, Slaughtered/Production Animals 2008,
FAOSTAT Database, 2010.
[3] Stanley, E. “Chicken Again? These Gators Get
a Steady Diet of Dead Fowl”. Los Angeles Times, 2001.
[5] Department of Environment
and Heritage, Government of South
Australia, 2007. The Kangaroo Conservation and
Management Plan for South Australia 2008–2012.
[6] Australian Government
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage, and the Arts. “Background
Information, Commercial Kangaroo and Wallaby Harvest Quotas 2010,” 2010.
[8] Schubert, D. “Assessment
of the Environmental Release of Chemicals From the Leather Processing
Industry,” IC-07 Leather Processing Industry, 1998.
[9] Hayes, R.B. “The
Carcinogenicity of Metals in Humans,” Cancer Causes and Control, 8 (1997),
371–85.
[10] Sclove et al.
Community-Based Research in the United States
(Amherst: The
Loka Institute), 1998.
