A cow needs her skin just as much as a fox needs his fur. And for the millions of intelligent, social animals who are killed and skinned, leather isn’t cool—it’s just plain cruel. With so many fake leathers and leather alternatives, there’s no excuse not to faux your feet (or rather, faux your shoes) and pleather your purse. So when you dress to impress, don’t dress in death! Here’s why...

Cattle aren’t the only fashion victims of the leather industry. Millions of other animals are killed each year for the very skin on their backs including:

Around the world millions of animals die every year solely for their skin to be stripped from their body and turned into leather. Leather is not just a byproduct of the meat industry!

In Australia and around the world, cattle routinely endure branding, castration dehorning, and disbudding, all without pain relief.

While cows in Australia have it bad, much of the leather in Australia comes from countries with even worse standards for animals, such as India and China. That means when you pay for leather the animals pay an even higher price.

For many Indian cattle, their deadly journey from grazing in a field to becoming a coat in a department store begins when they are bought from poor Indian families, who are promised the animals will be treated kindly. Nothing could be further from the truth—the torturous treks these animals are forced to make and the gruelling truck rides offer no happy ending, only exhaustion, abuse, and death.

If the environmental impact of livestock weren’t already a huge problem, the leather industry steps up the destruction another notch! Just like anything dead, animal skins naturally decompose. To stop skins from rotting, tanneries use all sorts of toxic chemicals, which can cause cancer, leukemia and heaps of other problems for workers and nearby residents. These poisons can also run off into water streams and wreak havoc on plant and animal life.

Leather costs lives (and not to mention, puts a dent in your wallet). Have killer looks without the deadly consequences. Pleather yourself (if you’re that way inclined), grab some victim-free vinyl, or check out some other great alternatives. But most importantly, leave the animals out of it!

Indian cattle bought for the leather trade are often forced to walk huge distances, many animals collapse from exhaustion, hunger and dehydration.

To drive the animals onwards, Indian leather traders beat them, break their tails and even rub chilli and tobacco into their eyes.

After exhausting treks Indian cows often face many long hours cramped in trucks on the way to slaughter.

If Indian cows survive a grueling trek and cramped truck ride to make it to the slaughterhouse alive, they have their throat slit and are left to slowly bleed to death, before their skin is stripped from their corpse.