“They are supposed to be sacred animals,” wrote the Independent in 2000. In reality, they are neither sacred nor holy, not to everyone, no. Ten years on, things haven’t changed that much (how familiar!).
That story, titled “How India's sacred cows are beaten, abused and poisoned to make leather for high street shops”, investigated how cows in India were neglected, tortured, and then slaughtered, only to be illegally sold to those who later sell it to us in the form of shoes, bags, and the like.
Now, to make things clear: not every cow in India is born into a miserable existence. Many still enjoy their protected status. However, even if cow slaughter is banned in almost all states in India, illegal activities are not uncommon. And this leads to…
…Us. “Buying leather directly supports the misery of the slaughterhouse,” says PETA, a leading animal rights organization. Don’t wear a cow.
Or any other animal, for that matter. Leather is also made from the skin of pigs, goats, horses, sheep, and then kangaroos, bison, dolphins, seals, crocodiles, elephants, deer, dogs, and even rats, although in the latter case it passes as just “leather” as opposed to “rat leather”, PETA says. Rats are too ugly to be worn, leave them in peace, or send them to minefields.
India is one of the world’s biggest exporters of leather. This means that many people depend on the industry for survival, and the industry is itself dependent on exports rather than domestic sales. As everywhere, there are good guys and bad guys, but the bad guys in India’s leather business are seriously bad. To increase profits, torture is not uncommon. Young goats may be boiled alive, because this way children’s gloves made from their skin are softer and nicer to wear. Going into more detail is depressing, here, but the really depressing thing is that this whole crime against animals is committed in the name of us, holy consumers.
On a positive note, in the 10 years of its crusade against cow maltreatment in India, PETA has had some success. In 2002, it persuaded high street retailers such as GAP or Reebok not to use Indian leather in their products. Well, actually, not persuaded, rather threatened them with demonstrations and consumer boycotts. Another victory came in June this year, when India’s Central Board of School Education decided school uniforms would no longer include leather shoes. But these are drops in the ocean.
Since leather is usually not labeled, you can never know where it came from and who it belonged to before you bought it. Leather is, after all, dead skin. The obvious decision would be to stop buying leather shoes and bags, right? Well, here is the dilemma.
Leather goods are usually of high quality. This means they can be worn and used for years, which is environment-friendly because it means no extra CO2 has to be emitted to create new products and the landfills don’t fill up as fast. Quality substitute for leather is hard to find – is it too expensive to manufacture? Is the demand not high enough? Of course, there’s plenty of plastic and other cheap alternatives to leather products, but we all know how long they last until we head to a shop to buy new ones. This never-ending consumerism is our possible future’s enemy number 1.
So what is there to do?
Boycott leather? Push families which depend on it into poverty? Heat up our planet by buying more stuff? Allow cows to continue suffering in order to save the world? Can we still save it?
True, PETA offers some alternatives. But the habit of confidently buying leather (it’s gonna last!) is hard to get rid of. And then… A more philosophical note: not all leather comes from tortured animals, but it does come from animals. Who gave us the right to use them as we wish in the first place?
Photo: liberalmind1012 [Janice Waltzer] via flickr on CC.
Just to answer to your final questions Giedre: I guess we use animals’ skin for leather just as we use their meat for food. Who gave us the right to use them for food?
Your post made me glad. I am not into leather products, so I am happy I don’t get to wear cow or dolphin skins. And I am happy that the leather jacket is not so fashionable anymore.
Giedre, what about a traditional African drum from the skin of a cow?
Loads of my African friends use them:
They’re traditional, they have unbelievable, peculiar sound and they look lovely…
Sorry for the delay in my reply, internet was not accessible for a while.
@Carmen, yes we do use animals as we wish, whether as food, clothing, or souvenir, or medicine (think rhino horns, shark fins, ..). Our species has obviously overtaken the planet and announced itself the king of all animals kingdom. After reading lots of PETA stuff, and some other stuff, I started really questioning our “right” to use other animals as we wish. As one guy said, “If you can’t kill it with your two bare hands, you were not meant to it in the first place.” That’s how the natural world works. But then again, ours is not so natural I guess..
@Helena, my leather bag also looks lovely, but now I feel uneasy every time I see it..
Many factors have to be considered, but I don’t think “traditional” is one of them. If some fishing village kills endangered sharks because they are used to eating shark fin soup, well, is it excusable? I think cows in this whole dilemma can stand as a symbol (and they’re perfect for making a case: cows tortured in a place where they’re known to be sacred to make profits with which to buy things and consume more and more). I see your point, Helena, but I can’t judge an African drum due to lack of information. 
Hi Giedre, thanks for your reply.
I think your post will help us to draw a line between what is alright and what should be avoided.
Killing endangered sharks is, obviously, not excusable, even if it’s for the sake of a lovely soup. Killing sacred animals is against the very local tradition… but cows aren’t sacred in Uganda. There are every time more cows of different breeds and… they are killed for meat anyway. I don’t think we should resign from a beautiful traditional African drum with its long history in the local culture.
Thank you for this discussion Helena!
Given the homo nonsapiens’ convenient habit to do whatever comes to mind and treat others on Earth as our servants, our meals and our “natural” possessions, well, I’m afraid there is only one way to protect endangered species: it is to announce them sacred in various religions, depending on their geographical position. But, as India’s example shows, even this is not an obstacle for abuse and neglect. What is there to do then? I don’t know.
The African drum is not an enemy in itself, and I have nothing against it so far. My point was to draw attention to what is being done to satisfy our (artificial) needs as consumers and to ask the question that has been nagging me for some time now: is leather OK, or not?
“They are killed for meat anyway.” They are, but if we look at the bigger picture, they wouldn’t be, if there was no consumer demand. Meaning, they wouldn’t have been born in the first place, and thus all this suffering would have never taken place at all. (Wow what a complex sentence.. But I’m sure you know what I mean, Helena
)