Don't let an animal suffer for a pair of shoes

[Guest guest]

You can help animals around the world who are cruelly mistreated by the leather industry by making a special gift to PETA. We have video footage documenting horrible conditions for cows, pigs, goats, and sheep—and even dogs and cats—in the leather industry. Animals are condemned to deplorable living conditions, deprived of food and water, transported in small cages, and crammed onto trucks. At slaughterhouses, they watch as other animals are skinned—often while still alive—and await the same gruesome fate. Most leather is produced in developing countries where there are no effective animal protection laws whatsoever. Six years after a PETA investigation into the Indian leather industry prompted the Indian government to promise to improve conditions for animals killed for their skin, we have influenced many major retailers to turn away from Indian leather—yet so very much suffering still occurs. Animals are still grotesquely abused in ways that violate Indian law and all standards of dignity and humanity. We cannot let this continue. PETA's investigators have seen cows have their throats cut with blunt instruments and be painfully castrated, dehorned, and branded—all without painkillers of any kind. At the end of their miserable lives, these gentle animals are hung upside-down, bled to death, skinned, and dismembered—for example, their hooves are cut off—often while they are still conscious. But you can take important steps today to reduce this suffering. To start with, please pledge never to buy or wear any more leather products. Believe me, there are great alternatives available. And if you're as serious as I am about stopping the abuses inflicted by the leather industry, please make an online donation to PETA, the one animal rights organization whose influence extends across borders. PETA is now leading a worldwide campaign to stop animal abuse in the leather industry. But we need your help. We're taking on industry leaders in the United States and overseas, serving as the only advocate for these abused animals. If we are to win significant relief for animals—and we've won countless battles against the factory-farming and fur industries already-we need you by our side. Please give as generously as you possibly can to PETA today. Your tax-deductible donation is a ray of hope for animals everywhere who are suffering so that people can wear their skins.Kind regards,Ingrid E. NewkirkPresidentP.S. The leather industry is abusing cows, pigs, sheep, and other wonderful animals and even skinning them alive. But PETA members have saved animals from cruelty before, and with your kind support today, we can do it again. Thank you.