Calves dragged and face-branded for leather interiors – please choose vegan leather!
A PETA video exposé featuring investigative footage from the non--governmental organisation Repórter Brasil of several cattle ranches in Brazil that supply JBS SA, the largest slaughter company and leather producer in the world, revealed that gentle calves are branded on the face and that their mothers and bulls are electroshocked and beaten – all to produce the leather interiors offered by major car brands such as yours. It's clear from this exposé that the life of a cow in Brazil is filled with pain and distress. The eyewitness found that calves were dragged away from their mothers, forced to the ground by twisting their necks, and yanked up by their ears and tails. The eyewitness also saw workers punch holes in calves' ears and use hot irons to brand them on the face without any pain relief, which is counter to the minimum animal-welfare recommendations by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture. When cows are about 3 years old, workers jab them around the anus with metal-tipped sticks and electroshock prods in order to force them onto cramped trucks and then transport them to JBS SA slaughterhouses. But the cruelty documented on these Brazilian cattle farms is not unique, as branding, ear-tagging, and electroshock are standard practices in the cattle industry. Violent treatment of cows has also been documented during transport in India and during slaughter in Bangladesh. At a time when vegan leather interiors are now more sustainable, innovative, and durable than animal hides, I urge you to replace your leather interiors with synthetic leather, which is better for animals and the environment and will allow consumers to be proud of the positive impact that they are having with every purchase.