Leather: Boundless cruelty

Boundless suffering for leather: in today's ZDF programme “37 Grad”, footage by Manfred Karremann shows how cattle, sheep and other animals are transported halfway around the world for the leather industry and subsequently killed.

Crammed tightly together amid their own excrement, they are forced to endure weeks on ships and lorries. During transport, many animals are injured or trampled to death by the others. On open trailers, they are sometimes exposed to extreme heat or cold, without sufficient food or water. After arriving in countries such as Turkey or Lebanon, their throats are cut without stunning. Their hides make their way back to Europe and end up as leather in shoes, clothing or furniture, including in Swiss shops. PETA appeals to all consumers to choose leather-free materials when shopping.

„There is no reason to wear the skin of other living beings – these shocking images show once again that the price is too high. Anyone who buys leather products is supporting these hellish journeys to distant countries and accepting that animals are killed without stunning after this ordeal. The range of modern, leather-free clothing, shoes and bags is virtually endless – anyone with a heart doesn't wear leather.»

Johanna Fuoss, specialist consultant for clothing and textiles at PETA.

New video footage exposes animal cruelty in the leather industry

Karremann's footage shows how Brazilian cattle are transported for weeks on ships to Turkey and then onward by lorry into Iraq. Another route leads from France via Bulgaria to Turkey. In the course of the investigation, cattle from Germany and Austria could also be traced all the way to Lebanese slaughterhouses. When the animals arrive at their destination country with their fur caked in faeces and urine, some of them are so weak or injured that they can no longer even stand on their own. They are hoisted off the ships by cranes while hanging from a single leg, which can break the animals' legs and painfully dislocate their joints. The cattle and sheep are then forced to the ground in the slaughterhouse, sometimes bound, and their throats are cut with a knife – usually without stunning. Footage shows workers throwing sheep onto a pile to bleed out while the animals are still kicking.

Leather inevitably linked to animal suffering – including in Switzerland

Even in European slaughterhouses, animals are often killed while fully conscious because the stunning can fail. But regardless of which stunning method is used: the animals are constantly exposed to extreme stress, pain and mortal fear during transport, the involuntary journey into the slaughterhouse, and the killing itself. Although it is illegal, even sick and injured animals are frequently forcibly transported all the way to the slaughterhouse. “The deliberate killing of pregnant animals is banned in Europe, yet in countries such as China the skin of unborn calves is even considered particularly valuable and, through global trade under the term ‘slunk’, also ends up in Europe”, says Fuoss.

A multi-million-franc industry with devastating consequences for the environment

For Leather more than 1.4 billion cattle, goats, sheep and millions of other animals are killed every year. As early as 2018, 900,000 cattle and almost 281,000 sheep were imported live from countries such as Germany, France, Brazil and Austria into Turkey. Germany is the second-largest buyer of Turkish leather goods after Russia. Fuoss warns: "Leather is associated with unspeakable animal cruelty and, on top of that, is one of the most environmentally harmful products in the world." Rainforests are cleared every day for cattle grazing land and feed production; moreover, the methane-containing excretions of the animals contribute massively to the climate problem. On top of that, numerous chemicals such as chromium are used in tanning – a danger to nature and to humans alike, since end products such as bags or clothing are frequently contaminated with the carcinogenic and allergy-triggering heavy metal chromium VI.