PETA’s new video will open eyes to the cruelty of the leather trade. It begins with a seemingly harmless party game but quickly transforms into a sobering revelation. Once you see the truth, there’s no turning back. This video will haunt you long after it ends:
The spot was created by global integrated marketing agency Samy Alliance with creative direction from Santiago Lucero. It was directed by M&M (Martin Jalfen and Mike Usandivaras) and produced by ROMA Productions.
Don’t Be Part of the Blood Bath
It’s time everyone took off the blinders – help friends and family see the reality. Leather is just hairless fur, produced by an industry defined by animal suffering.
Show this video to everyone you know and commit to never buying leather. Sign our pledge today.
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The Violence Behind Leather Belts and Shoes
Exposés by PETA entities have shown that animal leather is always the product of extreme violence – no matter where it comes from.
The more than 1 billion animals exploited annually around the world for leather endure horrific abuse. In India, cows’ tails are routinely broken and irritants like tobacco and even chillis are rubbed into their eyes to force them to trek up to 60 miles to an abattoir.
Inside abattoirs, cows are thrown onto bloodied floors with their feet bound. Sometimes their legs are hacked off while they’re still conscious. Some endure the agony of being skinned alive while others are shot in the head before their throats are slit.
Calf Leather Is Tearing Families Apart
Much of the skin used for misleadingly labelled “luxury” fashion comes from calves who were torn away from their mothers just hours after they were born. A mother’s instinct to protect her babies is intense. Just like us, cows share a strong, loving bond with their young, and no handbag or jacket can justify the trauma of separation or the horror they endure at abattoirs.
Remember: any item branded “calf leather” came from the violent splitting up of families and slaughter of babies.
Calves Are Mutilated for Leather Bags and Belts
It is standard industry practice for workers to punch holes in calves’ ears, castrate them without the use of painkillers. Some are also forced to endure the agony of their faces being branded with hot irons.
It’s Not Just Cows
In China, dogs and cats are also killed for their skin, which are often mislabelled and sold to unsuspecting buyers. So if you wear leather, there’s no way of knowing whose skin you’re in.
A Toxic Industry
As well as being cruel, leather is terrible for the planet. Each year, the global leather industry produces 600 million metres of effluent. Industry studies have identified that cow leather is fashion’s most environmentally devastating material, and over 90% of the damage occurs before skins even reach the tannery, where 170 unique chemicals are used.
Which Designers Will Become Vegan Fashion Leaders?
We applaud Victoria Beckham for her label’s policy against fur and exotic skins, and we’ve sent her this video in the hope that it will inspire the mother of four to extend compassion to others. By ending the use of all animal skin across her brand, she’d spare desperate mothers and babies the trauma of being torn away from one another.
Choose Vegan Leather
Innovative plant-based leathers are already available, including those made from cactus, olive, and grape as well as the plastic-free material Mirum. We’ve put these handy guides together to make choosing animal- and planet-friendly materials easy and vegan shopping a breeze:
