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Indian Animals Killed for Leather
While many Hindus still hold cows as sacred, most people look the other way as cows, buffaloes, and bullocks are killed for meat and leather. Many international retailers routinely use skins from cows slaughtered in India. The slaughter of cows is legal in only a few Indian states, which means that cattle marked for slaughter must travel by road in a death march for hundreds of miles to the few states where slaughter is legal.
In 1999, PETA president Ingrid Newkirk led a team to India to investigate complaints received from caring Indian citizens about the treatment of cows, buffaloes, and other animals killed to meet the demand for leather in the West, particularly in the United States and the European Union. What the team found would disturb the most hard-hearted.
Newkirk's team included Manfred Karremann, a German photo-journalist who documented gentle old Indian bulls and other animals being goaded onto trucks designed for fewer than half their numbers. The team saw that the animals' legs were often broken and their necks painfully twisted to make more room inside the vehicles. Animals inadvertently smothered one another and gouged and blinded each other with their horns. Live animals struggled under the dead and dying for hours during long, hot journeys to the slaughterhouse. Some animals were made to walk between trucking points and were beaten and forced to move forward, even when totally exhausted, by having chili seeds rubbed into their eyes and by having their tails broken by handlers. At most slaughterhouses, animals who survived transport were dragged inside, where they were able to see others dying before they themselves were cut, skinned, and dismembered, often while still conscious.
To view more photos, click here. Watch the VideoPamela Anderson narrates footage from PETA's investigation into cruel cattle transport in India. Click here to watch the video. The companies mentioned in this video have informed PETA that they have stopped supporting the Indian leather trade since the making of this documentary.PETA's campaign gained the support of celebrities all over the world, including Sir Paul McCartney, Chrissie Hynde, the Dalai Lama, Steven Seagal, Jackie Chan, Brigitte Bardot, Nina Hagen, Crispian Mills, Arun Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi's grandson), and more than two dozen Indian superstars and others. Famed Indian designer Hemant Trevedi quit his involvement in India's annual International Leather Fair and is now among the growing number of designers who will not use animal skins. 
Close to 40 companies-including Adidas-Salomon, Buffalo Boots, Gucci, Reebok, Nike, Kenneth Cole, Gap Inc., Wolverine Worldwide, Clarks, Next, and other giants-are now boycotting leather from Indian animals, at least until the hideously cruel and unnecessary suffering in transport and slaughter is put to an end. Reportedly, an estimated $68 million has been lost by the leather industry as a result of these companies' decisions not to support unlawful cruelty. This resulted in the Indian prime minister's sending a first-ever directive to state governments to enforce animal protection laws. Now, some India-based nonprofit citizens' groups are petitioning the government to stop the export of leather from India altogether on environmental and health grounds, claiming that the pollution from the leather tanneries is killing those living near them.
Leather Is Not Merely a ByproductThe Indian Council of Agricultural Research, which operates under the Indian Ministry of Agriculture, says that hides and skins in recent years have been considered a "co-product of the slaughtered animal rather than an inedible by-product ." Budget India 2000 revealed that out of the total exports in the livestock sector (including meat, dairy products, etc.), leather and leather products accounted for 54 percent.UpdateThe Indian Council for Leather Exports (CLE) has now pledged to work with buyers of Indian leather and the Indian government in bringing about much-needed reforms that would alleviate some suffering of cattle, goats, and other animals at the market, in transport, and during slaughter.Say "No" to Leather!Product labels only indicate where the product was finished, which isn't necessarily where the leather originated. The best way to be sure that you aren't supporting cruel treatment of Indian cows is not to buy any leather at all — ever! However, while in India even the most basic animal protection laws are ignored, there is nevertheless no humane way to rip the skin off any animal's back anyway, no matter what the country of origin is. With so many fine alternatives to leather available just about everywhere, there is no excuse to support hideous abuse.You Can HelpThese are PETA's demands of the Indian government:
The Honourable Lalit Mansingh Ambassador of India Embassy of India 2107 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. Washington, DC 20008 202-939-7000 202-265-4351 (fax) ambassador@indiagov.org The Honourable Atal Behari Vajpayee Prime Minister of India 152 South Block New Delhi 110 001 India pmosb@pmo.nic.in Not only is the international leather industry murder on animals, it is also an environmental hazard and a human-rights nightmare. Read more. |
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