There comes a time when barbaric habits have to end. The fur, leather, wool, silk and feather (down) industries enslave, abuse, commodify and murder animals in the same ruthless manner as the meat, dairy, egg and honey industries. They all need to be abolished. While most people seem to be opposed to the fur industry (see the essay titled Gary's 1997 Mink Liberation Story), those same people wear the ripped-off skins and furs of sheep, cows and silkworms, and the feathers of geese. Condemning the fur industry while giving other animal-skin, fur and feather enterprises a free pass is hypocritical. As a vegan, you must avoid wearing ALL animal skin.
Besides size, shape and color—which amount to nothing more than discriminatory factors—there is NO inherent difference between foxes and cows, or minks and geese, or chinchillas and sheep. Cow skin is fox skin is sheep fur is chinchilla skin is geese feathers is mink skin. When cows are killed for their skin, or “spent” sheep have their throats slit by the wool industry because they stop producing quality wool, or silkworms are boiled alive to separate their skin from their bodies, they experience the same amount of pain as minks, chinchillas and foxes when the fur industry breaks their necks, gasses them, or electrocutes them vaginally or anally! Cows, silkworms, sheep and geese want the same rights of “bodily integrity” that you demand! Here's some detailed information on the leather industry. To see a leather tanning facility in action, watch the four-minute video at the top of this page.
Shearing sheep for their fur is not a benign activity. Folds of skin—along with the tail—are cut off without anesthetic in an attempt to prevent flies from laying eggs near the rectum. Ironically, the bloody mutilation often attracts more insects. The sheep are manhandled during shearing and suffer from painful cuts and enormous gashes. And when sheep stop producing quality wool, they always end up at the slaughterhouse, or being murdered by Muslims in psychotic ritual slaughters (watch the two videos on the bottom row below). Here's some detailed information on the wool industry. (See also the video at top left just below.)
Here's some detailed information about geese being live-plucked to steal their feathers for the down industry, and the gruesome practice of boiling silk worms alive for the silk industry. (For more on the cruelty of the silk industry, watch the video at top right just below.)
Please understand that cowskin, silk, wool and feathers, are NOT by-products of other industries. They are billion dollar industries in and of themselves. Even if everyone adopted a vegan diet, cows, sheep, geese and silkworms would still be harmed and killed, which is why these industries must be opposed as vehemently as the meat, dairy, egg and honey industries.
Instead of purchasing animal-skin items that were ripped from someone else’s body, buy vegan goods made of hemp, bamboo, cotton, rayon, polyester, satin, lycra, spandex, gortex, microfibers, canvas, pleather or synthetic human-made materials! The Vegan Shoes, Clothing, Body Care, and Cosmetics page will help you get started on the non-food aspects of veganism.
Since the early ‘00s, many scientists have not only talked about growing flesh-meat, cow-secretions and animal-skin in laboratories without using live animals—which would eliminate the harm, commodification and killing animals for “food” and “clothing”—but many have made huge strides in the field of biofabrication. Even though these biofabricated products were obtained with a standard, simple and painless biopsy, they are NOT a viable option for vegans because the meat, dairy and skin are still comprised of animal protein/tissues. However, since the foundation of animal liberation is solely based on ethics and compassion, it appears that “growing” animal products in a laboratory can reduce and eventually eliminate the enslavement and murder of billions of cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, sheep, rabbits, goats and fish. Therefore, if biofabrication allows meat, dairy and egg-eaters, and leather-wearers, to consume and wear animal products without the harm, then it's a positive turning point in the push for animal liberation.
