Why vegan?

Leather :: Wool :: Fur :: Animal Testing :: Down :: Silk

Wearing another animal's skin?

Unlike materials such as wool or silk, leather doesn't entail the need for much of an explanation as to why it's wrong. It's another animal's skin, for goodness' sake. If that simple fact weren't reason enough to avoid leather, consider that the animal wasn't simply killed; he or she was almost certainly tortured first.

Decent humans have reflexive social standards that forcefully reject that kind of thing. We have subsequent laws that protect us from being confined, castrated, branded and otherwise mutilated, as happens to cows, pigs, sheep, goats, and other farmed animals around the world. We are likewise protected from the unimaginable horror and pain of being skinned alive, as routinely happens to animals killed for their fur and to snakes, alligators, crocodiles, and many others besides.

In short, we have laws that protect us from being tortured or killed for our skin. We would ever want anything like that to happen to us. Obviously, we have nerves and feelings and interests, and our lives can be much better or much worse depending on how we are treated.

From cows to seals to snakes to horses to zebras, the animals we harm for their skin meet and exceed these reasonable standards for similar moral consideration. And yet we routinely deny them the most basic rights -- for example, the right to be free from uninvited physical harm -- that we embrace for ourselves. When plucking a hair off an unwilling human's head is considered assault -- but branding, castrating, bone-breaking, ear-punching, tightly confining, and killing cows is dismissed as "standard industry practice" -- our sense of morality is extremely out of step with itself.

Real men don't make special exceptions for themselves based on fantasy and convenience. It's up to individuals and businesses like us to make a stand. We won't lend our voices, images, and dollars to products that contain leather. The Ethical Man will never, ever sell skin.

And whether or not you shop with us, we ask that you make a similar commitment: don't buy leather.

Thanks for reading,
Dan

summary

Buying leather supports cruel, torturous, and common industry practices such as branding, castration, tail-docking, ear-punching, extreme confinement, and/or live skinning for sensitive animals -- from cows to horses to seals to alligators to kangaroos to turtles to zebras to elephants. It also supports largely unreported abuses against sensitive animals, such as wanton beatings. Meanwhile, the raising of animals for their skin is extremely energy-intensive, and the leather tanning process itself is incredibly toxic and destructive to the environment.

videos

WARNING: GRAPHIC TRUTH
If "sacred" cows are treated this badly in India...

Here, rescued calves that may now live in peace: