atma 0 Report post Posted July 30, 2002 Stop the slaughter > > > > indya.com presents an exclusive appearance by Maneka Gandhi(Union > > Minister) > > > > I often meet vegetarians who would "die" rather than eat meat. A closer > > look shows a leather watch strap/bag/shoes. > > > > These are the excuses I then hear: > > a) I am vegetarian due to health, not animal welfare reasons. > > b) I buy my leather products from Khadi Gram Udyog because the animal died > > naturally. > > c) There is no alternative in India to leather. I can't go round in rubber > > chappals or use cloth jholas. > > d) The plastic alternatives are environmentally unfriendly because they > > come from petrochemical products and are non biodegradable. > > e) (This comes from the evolved environmentalists) I can't use cotton > > because it's grown with chemical pesticides and fertilisers. > > f) The animal was killed for its meat. Leather is only a by-product so > > there is no harm in using it. > > g) (I promise this is true) What nonsense - leather does not come from the > > skin of animals. > > h) I am helping poor people by buying leather products. > > > > I think all these myths should be dealt with. > > > > Myth: Leather is a by-product of the meat industry. > > Reality: India is the largest leather manufacturer in the world. This > > business running into lakhs of skins daily is not going to wait for > > slaughterhouse skins alone. Leather is not an incidental product of > > rearing of animals for meat. > > > > Although the skins and hides of sheep and goats are a small source of raw > > material for tanners, cattle hide and calf skin account for most footwear > > and leather goods. These are derived from millions of cattle slaughtered > > annually, including dairy cattle. Speciality leather is made from deer, > > alligators, lizards, sharks, snakes, crocodiles, and other exotic species, > > which are killed solely for this purpose. > > > > In India very few people eat cattle meat. Many people exaggerate, for > > political reasons, the amount of buffalo meat eaten by Muslims. But, all > > studies show that Muslims eat mainly the same meat as Hindus - goat and > > chicken meat. > > > > Cattle in India are slaughtered primarily for their skins and very often > > the meat is thrown away. > > Also people eat the meat that is locally available to them. The millions > > of cattle that are jam-packed into trains and trucks to go to West Bengal > > and Kerala to be slaughtered are only going for the leather industry, as > > 90 per cent of them die from overcrowding and starvation during the > > journey and their meat cannot be eaten. Even the vultures don't touch it! > > > > Myth: Leather comes from the skins of animals that have died of natural > > causes. > > Reality: This is a myth put out by the Khadi Gram Udyog. How can such a > > large organisation with retail outlets in every state of India ensure a > > steady supply of carcasses? Do they have people scouting all the villages > > collecting the bodies of cattle and buffaloes that waste away after 20 > > years? > > > > Besides, have you seen the skin of an old animal? Its hide is patched and > > worn. There is no way you can produce uniform quality leather goods > > randomly collecting the skins of such aged beasts. Mahatma Gandhi's Khadi > > Gram Udyog has no business selling leather. > > > > An interview conducted with the main buyers of Khadi Gram Udyog revealed > > that they gave the contract for their leather supply to contractors that > > supplied leather for normal footwear in the leather industry. Which means > > that there was no question of using or even differentiating between cattle > > killed for leather and cattle that died naturally. > > > > All the leather in India comes from young cattle. This, in spite of a > > Parliament law and state laws that forbid the killing of cattle under > > 14-16 years (some states say 14, others 16). Calf leather is specifically > > forbidden but leather sellers advertise it openly. Which calves die > > naturally? > > > > Myth: The animals spend contented lives grazing in fields and are sent to > > slaughter because they are old. > > Reality: Leather is not taken from old cows but from cattle sent to > > slaughter. Cattle are selectively bred and subjected to a range of cruel > > procedures, including artificial insemination, artificial weaning and > > feeding, dosing with antibiotics, castration, marking, and the separation > > of cow and calf within a few days of birth. > > > > As a consequence of undergoing a vicious cycle of pregnancy and lactation, > > dairy cows are especially susceptible to mastitis and lameness. Once they > > are sick they are killed. Their male calves are murdered in millions each > > year to provide tanneries with highly valued fine grain skin, used for > > shoe uppers, jackets, gloves and wallets. > > > > Kidskin leather is from baby goats. However, the most prized skin used to > > make soft suede is obtained from unborn calves, which means their mothers > > are beaten to make them abort and the foetus is skinned and sold. > > > > The natural life expectancy of a cow is 20 years, yet beef cattle are > > killed at one to three years and dairy cows at three to seven years due to > > disease (36 per cent), poor yield (28 per cent) and the inability to calve > > (36 per cent). They are killed to make more money for their owners from > > the sale of their body parts including meat and leather. > > > > Myth: Unlike a wild fur-bearing animal, the meat (leather) producing > > animal is killed humanely. > > Reality: At the very least, transportation to the slaughterhouse causes > > animals severe stress. Packed in cramped conditions, they may suffer heat > > exhaustion, heart attacks, bruising, hunger, dehydration, and broken > > bones, before reaching the slaughterhouses. > > > > The law says that only twelve cattle can be put into one train bogey. In > > reality each train carries over 44 cattle squashed together in each bogey. > > The law says that only four cattle can be put in a truck. Over 75 are > > often thrown into one, their limbs and tails broken to make more room. > > > > Their noses are tied together and ten of them made to march hundreds of > > miles. If one falls, its tailbones are broken and chillies put in its eyes > > till it stands up again. If it dies, it is skinned on the spot. > > > > Once in the slaughterhouse they are killed in the most crude and cruel > > manner. The knives are rusty and the workers callous and untrained. > > Butchers need possess no formal qualification or training. In mechanised > > slaughterhouses in Andhra Pradesh, boiling water is poured on the animal > > and its skin stripped while it is still alive and hanging upside down. > > > > In Kerala, the head is smashed in with a hammer - often up to 20 blows > > being given before the animal dies. Many of the butchers are children. > > > > Myth: Unlike plastic alternatives, leather products are > > environment-friendly. > > Reality: Tanneries not only emit unpleasant odours, they produce a host of > > pollutants - including lead, zinc, formaldehyde, dyes, and cyanide based > > chemicals. And added to the equation is the devastating environmental > > impact of raising livestock. Animal slurry is probably the major cause of > > water pollution: cattle, sheep and other ruminants are one of the main > > sources of global warming. > > > > Methane and nitrogen in animal waste volatises to form ammonia - the > > single greatest cause of acid rain; the felling of trees for livestock > > grazing, and the amount of young shoots and grass eaten results in soil > > erosion. > > > > Farm animals compete with us for land, water, and fuel, and consume five > > to ten times as much primary plant food as people. > > > > Turning animal hides into leather is an energy intensive and polluting > > practice. The Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology states: "On > > the basis of quantity of energy consumed per unit of product, the leather > > manufacturing industry would be categorised with aluminium, paper, steel, > > cement and petroleum manufacturing industries as a gross consumer of > > energy." > > > > "Production of leather basically involves soaking (bean house), tanning, > > dyeing, drying and finishing. Over 95 per cent leather production is > > chrome tainted. The effluent that must be treated is primarily related to > > the bean house and tanning operations. The most difficult to treat is the > > effluent from the tanning process." > > > > All wastes containing chrome are considered hazardous. Many other > > pollutants employed by the processing of leather are considered primary > > environment and health risks. In terms of disposal, one would think that > > leather products would be biodegradable. But the primary function for a > > tanning agent is to stabilise the collagen or protein fibres so that they > > are no longer bio- degradable. > > > > If that were not enough, leather production causes serious water pollution > > as well. India has so far taken a loan of Rs. 2000 crores to try and clean > > the Ganges of the effluents poured into it from Kanpur's leather > > industries. No success so far. > > > > Myth: Leather is a major money earner for India. It is also a major > > employer. > > Reality: Don't think that you are doing social service for India by buying > > leather. The leather manufacturers pay no taxes, as it is a small-scale > > industry. The leather exporters who earn 1.5 billion dollars pay no taxes. > > > > In fact the government pays them incentives to export. The people who are > > involved by the leather industry are mainly on the tanning side; they flay > > the skins, soak them in chemicals, et al. > > > > Many of these people earn the lowest possible wages and die very young > > because of the cyanide, chrome and other chemicals that they steep > > themselves in. Compensation is not paid nor any precautions taken for > > their safeties, as the leather manufacturers claim to be small scale > > themselves. > > > > Every time they fall sick, which is within months of this oppressive > > labour, the government foots their major medical bills and the owner of > > the tannery gets himself another poor person to exploit. The happy parts > > of the leather trade-the actually making of shoes and garments-is all done > > by machine. > > > > Do the leather manufacturers pay for the forests that have been destroyed > > by the cattle grazing on them? Do they pay for the water sources that have > > dried up as a result of forest cover disappearing? No, they take an animal > > that has fed on land that is called common land and denuded it. > > > > The Government's Ministry for Wasteland Development then pays money to > > NGOs for these lands to be greened again. Do the leather manufacturers pay > > the Ministry? No. They make the money and India pays the bill. Which means > > you pay for the enormous wealth of the leather manufacturer. > > > > Many Western countries are increasingly turning to leather alternatives. > > China, which used to be the largest leather exporter, is now the world's > > largest synthetic leather exporter. Countries like Thailand are following > > suit. Most European countries that used to produce leather have passed the > > environmental burden to India and now merely either take the finished hide > > or use synthetics. > > > > A look at the Internet listings for leather alternative throws up more > > than 12,000 links for all sorts of non-cruelty, non-leather items. The > > Compassionate Shopper regularly lists companies that sell non-leather > > shoes for instance. > > > > Do you want to help India's environment and join its anti-cruelty team? > > First make a list of all the leather items in your life: > > Watch straps, shoes, wallets, jackets, belts, drums (tablas), bags, > > briefcases, hats, furniture covers, pants and other garments, cricket > > balls, footballs, jewellery cases, spectacle cases, key chains, > > bookbinding, lampshades, toys, gloves. > > > > There are so many alternatives to each. Suede-like materials for garments > > (both leather and suede are so silly to use in a hot country like India), > > cloth wallets and bags. Canvas belts with brass buckles. Spalding > > manufactures synthetic leather volleyballs, footballs and basketballs. > > > > Cotton or spandex can replace leather gloves; synthetic fibre skin on > > drums is as good. Waxed cloth and faux leather for jackets. Plastic, jute, > > canvas and EKKO-a new non-polluting combination of natural and synthetic > > rubber are commonly available. > > > > The most widely purchased item is shoes. What are you looking for? > > Something eye catching, water resistant, durable, allowing your feet to > > breathe? Who says that these qualities can't be found in non-leather > > shoes? > > > > Vegetarian shoes not only outlast leather but also require less > > maintenance, as they don't have to be polished. High quality non-leather > > is water-resistant and also allows the feet to breathe. Nike, Adidas and > > Reebok have animal free shoes. Chlorenol (called Hydrolite in Adidas and > > Durabuck in Nike) is an innovative new material that stretches round the > > foot with the same flexibility as leather. > > > > Some non-leather companies have introduced cork and hemp shoes with a > > contoured cork footbed. Companies like Action Shoes and Bata say that they > > have a vast line of non-leather shoes for men, women and children. Non > > leather shoe shops like Rinaldis in Mumbai have the most beautiful shoes > > possible. > > > > Anyone who wants to go into collaboration with a foreign non-leather > > company will find himself rich. Especially now since the West is stopping > > leather import from India. Anything China can do we can do better! > > > > Here are a few hints: > > Some people complain that vinyl shoes squeak. Put a little mineral oil, > > hand cream or any lubricant between the noisy surfaces. > > Many patent leather shoes are in fact synthetic. Look for the man made > > material label on it. Leatherette is not leather. It is high quality > > vinyl. > > > > Don't wear dead animals on your feet. If the cow is your sacred animal > > don't let her be killed for your needs. The wearer is responsible for the > > killer and ignorance is no defence. You are the person who makes the money > > for the leather industry and destroys India's environment as well. > > > > Is your pair of shoes worth the Ganges River or the Himalayan hillsides or > > your State forest sanctuary? All of them are contained in the leather that > > you buy. Purchasing leather goods helps to make the rearing and killing of > > over 600 million cattle, goats a year in the country a profitable > > business, and maintains a demand that can be satisfied only by the taking > > of life. > > > > Make an effort to find non-leather items and ask each leather shop you > > know to stock non-leather goods as well. You will see how quickly the > > message spreads. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tarun 6 Report post Posted July 30, 2002 Humble suggestion: next time u may want to include "Avoid Leather" in your Thread Topic title. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
