Nuts. If I Thought The Fur Industry Was Bad, Leather Isn't Much Better

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This was kind of a rude awakening for me. I think it's been obvious from two former discussions I had about the "practices" that are done in the fur trade industry that I'm not an advocate of fur period and it infuriated me no end to find out that many clothing items that are labeled "faux" fur (fake) isn't necessarily true. Now it might seem very hypocritical of me that while I don't advocate wearing fur, I had no problem with the idea of leather or suede. Also, since I'm part Native American, I make a lot of Native American designed/based items that yes, uses suede in particular. For some rather dumb reason my logic was this. Thousands of cows are killed for the meat consumption of us humans, so I was under the naive delusion that the hides from these killed cows were at least used for the leather industry, right? A big wrongo. Okay I know that a lot of you don't care for PETA, but I did some digging about the Leather industry market...Most leather used not only in America but Europe as well comes from India and China...NOT America, despite all the cows killed here. And the way they are killed is not pleasant. Now before you roll your eyes and think, oh, no, more crap about PETA, I decided to do even more digging to verify this fact that PETA is spewing out. One of the biggest suppliers of leather, not only for "crafts people" like me but for the leather industry worldwide for coats, handbags, shoes, etc is Tandy Leather. You've no doubt have heard of it and I admit to having gotten some of my suede supplies from them in the past. So I decided to email them and ask directly where the source of their leather does indeed come from. My email to them was as follows: [i]Dear Tandy I was just curious as to the origins of where the leather/suede that you sell originates. I do a good number of Native American based and styled crafts that require the use of leather/suede. I just saw a rather disturbing video of how much of leather/suede comes from India and China and the conditions of the cattle are to say horrible. I would hope that any leather/suede sold by such a reputable company as yours is indeed American and not foreign in origin. Thank you Sincerely (my name)[/i] Their reply was thus: (I've edited it a bit to eliminate phone numbers) [i]Good morning I appreciate your concerns about animal rights. We do not condone the abuse of animals in any way. Our pig suede is imported from China . Our calf lace is made in India . There is very little leather being tanned in the United States any more. Best Regards, Jim Villwock Customer Service Manager http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com Tandy Leather Factory 1900 South East Loop 820 Fort Worth, TX 76140 [/i] Like WTF? With all the cows (and pigs) that are killed for the food market here in America, why the hell aren't the hides also used for the leather industry....does anyone see any ironies to this? Okay back to the PETA thing...So now I had watched the video....like I said it's not pleasant. Since cows are sacred in India, cows cannot be slaughtered in India but instead are taking on what is called the Death Walk where they are forced to walk many miles to the border. The cows are anything but healthy looking, emaciated, ribs sticking out, and if they become weakened or tired, chili pepper is rubbed into their eyes to "perk" them up....Prior to getting to the border of the next country, they are crammed into trucks that only are supposed to fit about five cows but instead up to twice that amount are shoved in. By the time they reach their destination many have died. When they are slaughtered they are not killed in the strict traditional Halal manner of the Muslim faith (in Judaism, they too have certain prescribed methods of slaughter to make it "Kosher"). Many of the cows are killed/slaughtered right in the presence of the other cows. Like I said...all this was an awakening to me, but just can't understand why the cows killed in our OWN country can't have their hides used for the leather industry. After all they are being killed for meat consumption. Also, as a btw...a lot of leather too, ISN'T made from cowhide or pighide...but from anything from frogs, ostriches, cats, dogs, you name it. Then I did a search of some of the leading Native American based website that sell craft items including leather/suede...Almost all are supplied by none other than Tandy...like sheesh For those who wish to see the video, even just a little of it here's the link..there is a petition one can sign as well at this link http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/US_indian_leather?qp_source=usindianleathergen So was anyone else aware of this? Does it now make you rethink about leather/suede? If I do continue to use suede for my crafts I'm going to do a real search for leather goods that are from THIS country at least