Leather is an extremely popular material in the fashion and accessory industry. You’re probably more than familiar with how the leather looks and feels, but have you ever thought to ask where leather comes from or what leather is made of? To a layman, the answers to these questions can be shocking. That’s why we are committed to providing vegan leather products that do not have these horrific effects on the environment and living creatures.

What Is Conventional Leather Made Of?

So, what is conventional leather made of, exactly? Leather comes from the skins of animals including pigs, cows, goats, kangaroos, alligators, and many more animals. While the different kinds of animals used to create leather might be surprising, the methods for manufacturing leather out of these animals is almost unfathomable to activists and animal lovers all over the world. Also, did you know that leather product are sometimes even made of the skins of domesticated animals like cats and dogs? People who purchase leather products could very well be unknowingly purchasing these items due to them being intentionally mislabeled or unlabeled. The leather industry is kept so well under wraps that consumers basically have to act on trust and ignorance alone.

Factory farms are entirely focused on production and efficiency in order to maximize profits. This does not take into account animal welfare, so the animals in these facilities often suffer their entire lives.

The Use Of Animals In Leather Making.

Animals bred in factory farms for leather are often raised in unsanitary and inhumane conditions before being slaughtered for their skins using similarly cruel and nearly unspeakable methods. These practices are able to continue because of the large demand for leather across the world. Very few countries have strict laws regarding leather manufacturing and the laws that do exist are rarely enforced, according to PETA

Because of this, these animals are often raised in cramped spaces with very little care. Because the leather industry is so demanding worldwide, these animals are illegally transported in trucks that are far over capacity. To skirt border laws, the animals are often dragged out of the trucks, walked across the border, and stuffed back into the trucks on the other side. Animals often die from this alone due to being mauled, gored, and trampled in the packed vehicles.

Even less fortunately, the animals at the slaughterhouse are sometimes even mutilated and skinned while still alive and conscious. The animals who are not subjected to this torture have their throats cut with blades that are typically blunt and dull, so even this is a slow and painful process.

Knowing leather comes from animals that are subjected to such heinous acts is almost always an unwelcome realization for consumers. Especially considering the fact that many of the animals used to make leather are considered highly intelligent, meaning they are more than aware of the conditions and torture they are subjected to. According to PETA, cows and pigs are problem solvers with advanced emotions and intelligence equal to human children. This means that the animals not only know what is likely going to happen to them, but they can feel pain, anguish, hopelessness, and fear up until the moment they are no longer living.

This is all done for the benefit of humans who want to use the skins of these animals as clothing and accessories.

Impact Of Leather Making On Our Environment.

Among these horrors inflicted upon innocent and undeserving animals are the damages the leather industry causes to the environment. Because animals are raised on factory farms in massive numbers specifically for leather manufacturing and trade, it requires a vast amount of resources.

These resources include feed and water, land area, and great amounts of natural, non-renewable fossil fuels which we already know can have catastrophic consequences to the environment. While human waste can be effectively treated at a waste treatment plant, the same cannot be said for the expensive waste created at industrialized factory farms.

Now, the actual process from which leather comes from requires even more energy. Most people have no idea how animal skin is turned into leather. Again, the leather industry is more than happy to keep people in the dark about the methods they use, and for good reason. Not only is it damaging to animals and the environment, it’s bad for humans as well. In order to keep the massive industry alive, these terrible practices are allowed to remain hidden from the general public.

Leather is made of animal skins and the process involves heavy use of chemicals to treat the skins. These dangerous chemicals include formaldehyde and others that are cyanide-based. The chrome-tanned leather creates waste that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers very hazardous. Individuals who work at tanneries or live in the nearby vicinities of tanneries are in close contact with these substances and can actually develop cancers and other fatal diseases simply from the exposure.

It’s not just the air that gets polluted, either. The runoff from these plants pollutes water supplies all over the world.

Independent farmers are also harmed by the leather industry because industrialized factory farms have a monopoly on different productions, preventing honest farmers from making a living raising livestock.

Vegan Leather Is The New Leather.

So, if you love the look and feel of leather, consider making the change to vegan leather products. Our dog collars are created without harming any animals and without releasing dangerous and extremely toxic substances into the air or the water. The more people who begin questioning the methods of the leather industry, the more ability we will have to make a change. Since leather is such a money maker, manufacturers care only about profits and not about the consequences the industry has on defenseless animals, unknowing workers, and our environment.

The more consumers who start asking questions and showing concern, the more chances we will have of convincing governments all over the world to place strictly enforced laws and requirements on leather makers. And, if the demand for leather goes down, these companies will be forced to cut production. The rise of vegan leather will have so many huge benefits and we are happy to be your vegan dog collar provider.