Leather: Fate of the Holy Cow

Image by terrmith.deviantart.com 

   

---I DON'T STAND A CHANCE!!!

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 19^th 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. 

[2] Simply Leather (Wales) Ltd. History of Leather. http://www.simplyleather.co.uk/acatalog/History_of_Leather.html

[3] Stanley, E. “Chicken Again? These Gators Get a Steady Diet of Dead Fowl”. Los Angeles Times, 2001.

[4] PeTA. Leather: Animals Abused and Killed for Their Skins. http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/leather-animals-abused-and-killed-for-their-skins.aspx

[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.

[7] GAIAM life. How bad is leather and what are the alternatives. http://life.gaiam.com/article/how-bad-leather-and-what-are-alternatives

[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.