Russell Brand Doesn’t Know Leather Isn’t “By-Product” Of Meat Industry
Written by Vegetarian Star on October 5th, 2010 in Actors, Animal Issues, Fashion.
Russell Brand claims to be a sober man now, but a recent statement about the appropriateness of wearing leather from the vegetarian makes us question what was in his soymilk that morning.
According to Hollywood Life, Brand said, “It’s cruel to kill animals just to have a snack. I mean, sometimes [I wear leather], but those animals gave up their lives very gratefully.”
Unfortunately, some vegetarians may believe that buying leather is harmless since the animals are going to be killed in the meat industry anyway. However, some sources say that the leather industry is one on its own and even helps subsidize factory farming, giving it a financial boost it couldn’t accomplish on its own. How?
According to Not Your Skin: The Big Cover Up by Fiona Galbraith of the vegetarian group Viva!, leather accounts for anywhere between 7-10 percent of an animal’s total financial worth (as dirty as that phrase sounds).
The Food Climate Research Network says that during the last 20 years, the leather production industry has seen more growth than the meat one. Specifically, the global production of raw cattle hide grew 24% between 1984-2007, while the production of cattle meat grew 19% over the same period.
“With leather production increasing faster than meat production, this brings to question the claim that leather is a by-product,” writes Galbraith. “If leather demand continues to increase and meat production decreases it is unlikely leather production would stop. Therefore, anyone buying and wearing leather may be encouraging the slaughter of more animals.”
Help decrease this demand this winter buy purchasing faux leather men‘s and women‘s jackets, available from both alternative clothing companies and well known retailers.
Photo: PR Photos
Possibly Related Posts:
- Jon Stewart and Wife Tracey Stewart Adopt Horse
- Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Elephants Retire To Sanctuary
- Giorgio Armani Eliminates Fur From Fashion Lines
- SeaWorld Phasing Out Whale Breeding Program
- Pamela Anderson Launches Vegan Shoes
October 5th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
The term ‘giving up their lives gratefully’ seems odd. That’s what people say about animals being slaughtered for meat.
Not to mention, the gross factor of wearing an animals skin is on par with eating their flesh as far as I am concerned.
Even when I ate meat, the smell of leather made me want to gag.
Maybe he is just in that transitional phase that all vegetarians and vegans go through. lol