Is leather just a byproduct of the meat industry? The answer may surprise you. Learn about where leather comes from, what leather is made of, whether leather supports animal cruelty, and the environmental devastation and public health threat of leather production.
This article is part of an eCourse.
Take The eCourse NowIt’s obvious that animals have to die for their skin to be made into leather. But if they’re being killed anyways for their meat, isn’t leather just a way of being less wasteful? While even many non-vegans object to the fur industry, the ethical line about leather is far less clear. Is leather truly a byproduct of the meat industry? tweet this
To answer that question, we’ll be answering others you didn’t even know to ask. Like, do you know what country your leather was made in? Do you even know which animal it’s made from? And, did you know there’s a chance it’s a cat or dog?
What Is Leather Made Of?
Before we dive into whether leather is a byproduct of the meat industry, let’s cover where leather comes from.
Leather is made from the hide or skin of animals. Most people associate leather with cow skin, which does make up the majority of leather produced.1
However, many other animals’ skins are turned into leather, including buffalo, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, kangaroos, deer, and even cats and dogs—which we’ll get to later in this article.
There are also so-called “luxury” and “exotic” leathers made from the skin of animals like calves, ostriches, alligators, sharks, elephants, lizards, stingrays and zebras.
Is Leather a Byproduct of the Meat Industry?
Leather production is not about minimizing waste—it’s about maximizing profit.
tweet this— Emily Moran Barwick
As most cow skin leather is derived from cows either slaughtered for their meat, or after their bodies give out from the demands of the dairy industry, it’s generally thought that leather is purely a byproduct of the meat and dairy industries. Companies even use this claim to insinuate that their leather products help reduce waste. After all, isn’t it better to use as much of a slaughtered animal as possible?
While this argument seems quite logical on the surface, it’s entirely inaccurate. Far from an incidental, secondary product made during the production of meat, leather is a multi-billion dollar global industry. The leather goods market was valued at $407.2 billion in 2021, and is projected to grow to $743.50 billion by 2030.2 Leather production is not about minimizing waste—it’s about maximizing profit.
Leather is more accurately termed a coproduct rather than a byproduct of the meat and dairy industries.
Without the sale of leather, the cost of meat would have to increase significantly to make up for lost profits. Even just a reduction in cow skin sales results in multi-million dollar losses for a slaughterhouse.3 The economics of these industries are inextricable—they arguably cannot sustain themselves independently of one another.
Additionally, not all leather is even a coproduct of the meat and dairy industries.
Does All Leather Come from Animals Slaughtered for Meat?
As I mentioned earlier, so-called “luxury” and “exotic” leathers come from animals killed primarily or even solely for their skin. These animals may be illegally poached, even when endangered.
In Myanmar, for example, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute found that endangered Asian elephants were increasingly being poached “for their skin instead of…ivory”.4
While exotic skins—like ostriches, tigers, alligators, sharks, elephants, lizards, stingrays, zebras, and countless others—are a minority of the leather industry purely by volume, they fetch a much higher price point than cow skins. Some are hunted and poached in the wild while others are commercially farmed.
An investigation into alligator and crocodile farms supplying the luxury brand Hermès, creator of the iconic Birkin bag, found deplorable conditions and barbaric, ineffective slaughter practices.5
Not all “luxury” leathers are exotic. The skin of newborn calves is highly valued for its softness. Calves are even cut out of their mother’s wombs at slaughterhouses to have their beating hearts pierced to harvest bovine fetal serum6—another coproduct—and their skins removed for “luxury” items.
While even many meat-eaters draw an ethical line at eating veal, consumers still purchase calfskin products. With a decrease in demand for veal, calfskin becomes more and more of a primary product.7
Where (and Whom) Does Your Leather Come From?
Consumers have become more aware of and concerned about the treatment of animals killed for food, increasingly selecting so-called “humane” options like cage-free eggs and free-range meat—which, to be clear, are not at all humane. However, this consideration rarely enters the conversation when it comes to leather products.
Even more unquestioned is whether the species of animal skin is accurately labeled.
Much of the world’s leather comes from China, which has no comprehensive animal welfare laws,8 and India, where the existing laws are poorly enforced.9 Again, the existence of animal welfare laws does not equate to humane treatment. There is no way to acceptably exploit and kill sentient beings.
However, most consumers are unaware of the egregiousness of the cruelty inflicted upon the beings from whom their leather products were derived.
Investigations into India’s leather trade found that cows who collapse from exhaustion while being marched to slaughter without food or water “have their eyes smeared with chili peppers and tobacco and their tails broken in an effort to keep them moving.”10
Is Your Leather Actually Dog or Cat Skin?
In China, the leading global producer of leather, dogs and cats are also brutally killed for their skin, which is deliberately mislabeled and sold around the world.
While the United States technically banned the importation of dog and cat fur and skin,11 it’s impossible to effectively enforce given the difficulty of distinguishing the difference.
Investigations into China’s dog slaughterhouses captured dogs being bludgeoned with a wooden pole, often remaining conscious even after their throats were slit and their skin ripped from their bodies.12
Not only are leather products deliberately mislabeled when it comes to the species, but it’s also not possible for consumers to necessarily know the country of origin. If an animal was skinned in China, but that skin was imported by Italy where the end product was manufactured, the label will indicate it was made in Italy.
Does Purchasing Leather Support Animal Cruelty?
Even in the most “ideal” conditions, it’s impossible to say that any animal product, coproduct, or even byproduct does not support overt cruelty.
tweet this— Emily Moran Barwick
Along with the misconception that purchasing leather helps reduce waste, viewing most leather as a byproduct of the meat and dairy industries also allows consumers to believe they aren’t supporting the cruelty inherent within those industries. However, as we’ve now seen, this simply isn’t true.
We’ve covered how leather from the meat and dairy industries is a profitable coproduct, creating a complete economic interdependency.
We’ve covered how not all leather comes from animals slaughtered for their meat. And we’ve now learned that most leather products come from countries without even the most basic of animal welfare legislation or enforcement, and may even be the skin of cats and dogs.
But let’s say for the sake of argument that we are talking about cow skin leather from the meat and dairy industries within the United States or the European Union—which supposedly has strong animal welfare regulations.
Does purchasing that very specific leather support animal cruelty? To answer this question, I’ll give an incredibly high-level summary of the treatment of cows within these industries under the supposedly highest standards.
The Treatment of Cows in the Meat & Dairy Industries (with Strong Regulations)
Without any form of pain relief or anesthetic, cows within the meat and dairy industry undergo legally sanctioned mutilations like dehorning and castration.13 Cows are forcefully impregnated through artificial insemination14—a process that can be physically damaging, especially when considering that most inseminations are performed by non-veterinarians.15 Bulls are repeatedly subjected to painful electroejaculation.16
In the dairy industry, no matter the country, babies are taken from their mothers after birth. Cows bond intensely with their babies and mother cows will cry for days until their voices are hoarse.17
We’ve already discussed what happens to the male calves. Most females are kept to eventually replace their mothers, though some are sent to meet the same fate as the males.18
This cycle of forced impregnation and traumatic separation is repeated over and over again until dairy cows’ bodies give out entirely around age four or five, despite having a natural lifespan of 20 years or more.
At the slaughterhouse, even in the “best” of conditions, a significant number of cows are ineffectively stunned with a captive bolt gun.19 This in combination with the pressure to keep the line moving often results in cows being conscious during slaughter and even as their skin is removed.20
Additionally, the vast majority of animal welfare regulations contain exceptions for animals undergoing halal and kosher ritual slaughter, mandating that they be allowed to be killed without any stunning.21 For an in-depth look into halal and kosher slaughter, please see my video and article “Are Halal And Kosher Slaughter Humane?“
Even in the most “ideal” conditions, it’s impossible to say that any animal product, coproduct, or even byproduct does not support overt cruelty. No animal wants to be killed.
A Note on the Environmental Impact, Public Health & Labor Issues of the Leather Industry
Aside from all of the economic, logistical, and ethical reasons that leather cannot rightly be viewed as a byproduct, the leather industry is responsible for profound environmental devastation entirely independent of the meat and dairy industries.
The extreme toxicity of leather production also endangers the lives of tannery workers and those in surrounding communities. These issues deserve their own dedicated videos and articles, which I plan to produce in the future. For now, I will provide a very high-level summary. Please see the citations within this section for further resources.
The environmental impact of the meat and dairy industries themselves is astronomical. On top of this destruction, most leather is tanned with toxic chemicals like chromium, formaldehyde, arsenic, and other heavy metals, all of which are dumped into waterways.22
Not only does this water pollution kill the fish and other species within the water, but it also poisons any species that enters or drinks from the water—including humans.23 Tannery workers and people in communities surrounding tanneries face a myriad of health issues, including increased cancer rates, leading to what have been termed “cancer villages”.24
Leather’s environmental impact also extends to the deforestation caused by raising cows, especially in Brazil, the world’s third-largest producer of cow skins. The “cattle” industry is the single largest cause of tropical deforestation in the Amazon and globally.25 The vast majority of Amazonian deforestation is done illegally.26
Research by Stand.earth released in 2022 documents over 100 fashion brands—many well-known like Adidas, Nike, Coach, Prada—”have supply-chain links to Brazilian leather exporters…known to engage in Amazon deforestation.” European auto manufacturers like VW, BMW, Daimler, PSA and Renault have also been linked to illegal deforestation for the leather used in their cars.27
Final Thoughts & Vegan Leather Alternatives
I think at this point it’s safe to say that leather is far from a harmless, waste-reducing byproduct of the meat industry. With the abundance of vegan leather alternatives, which I’ve covered in a dedicated article, there’s simply no reason to continue supporting such a cruel and environmentally devastating industry.
Please do share this with anyone wondering what’s so wrong with leather? And remember to take the free eCourse! To support educational content like this, please consider making a donation. Now go live vegan, and I’ll see you soon.
— Emily Moran Barwick
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Are there any auto manufacturers using faux leather upholstery? Is it possible to verify claims that faux leather is used?
Hi James. I hope it’s okay, but I subscribed you to replies to your comment so you’d get an email with my answer, given you asked a question. Otherwise, you’d never know I replied! Anyways, faux leather has been available in cars for year, generally as a much cheaper option than “real leather. There are trends more recently of automotive makers now marketing faux leather as “sustainable” and in a positive light.
Regarding the verifiability of faux leather in vehicles, one benefit of capitalism is that “real” leather IS more expensive. So they’d not really have much of an incentive to try to sell “real” leather at a lower price. Still, you can always try contacting the company/manufacturer directly vs. relying on a salesperson’s “pitch”. I hope this helps!
Many thanks, Emily.
Congratulations too, on the great format and presentation of the videos. It’s nice to see the wry comments and humour still shining through, as I remember from many years ago.
Cheers.
Aww, thank you, James! That means so much to me. I’m truly honored!
This is an interesting topic.
For one thing we tend to associate cheap, plastic upholstery with econoboxes; however, the ultra rich have long had the option of selecting products such as Alcantara (a Japanese “suede” that outperforms leather) in their Porsches, Ferraris and so on.
I hear that Tesla interiors are vegan.
If you want your car interior to have highly durable, soft touch upholstery that looks like leather, you can get it for a price.
Richard, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. From what I’ve read (just surface-skimming so don’t quote me on this), Tesla stopped using leather upholstery by 2017, though it took longer to eliminate their leather-wrapped steering wheels.
Glad you found this interesting! Appreciate your insights!
My VW atlas has leatherette. It looks like leather but has a more plastic like feel and gets pretty hot in the summer time. I really like it though for the cleanability and the price point. I was able to get an almost white and not have to worry about the children ruining it :)
Emily, I’ve always comments on YouTube, but wanted to start doing so on your website as well. This is truly another gem! I myself am from India. It’s always been so distressing how we treat cows as “holy” in one respect, yet they are still so mistreated in others.
This video and article have (yet again!) clarified a topic so misunderstood (or more so, simply un-examined). Thank you for always shedding light with such solid sources and ease-of-access. It’s so easy to follow what you lay out. And even though what you cover is often disturbing, you do so in a manner that makes it still approachable. Many thanks always for your work!
Oh Anesh, so lovely to “see” you on the website too! I did see and reply to you on the video, but am thrilled you’ve come over to the site. As always, I’m honored by your thoughtful feedback and for sharing your own experience and insights. I totally understand what you mean about cows in India. I lived and studied in Jaipur and surrounding areas during college. And while yes, cows are revered in many ways, there is that “blind spot” with dairy and other forms of exploitation. Even the fact that many die of bloat from accidentally consuming plastic bags in the streets. It’s the same everywhere in the world… meaning the ability of us humans to hold such contradictory beliefs all at once, and have such massive blind spots.
Your comments never fail to make my day. Thank you so very much for your kind words.
Supposition: It’s easy for even us vegans to see leather as “just a byproduct.”
Not for me. I sometimes ask leather users a question. If you wore my grandmother’s skin, would you feel her pain? Would you experience her struggle with emphysema? Whenever you had it on your body, would you bear her trauma? Would wearing it entail your understanding her experience?
Very direct way of bringing the reality of leather to someone’s mind, Richard. I definitely don’t mean to imply that vegans find leather acceptable. Just that even when advocating against it, one may still assume/think it’s a byproduct. Though, as I say in this article and video, even in the most “ideal” conditions, it’s impossible to say that any animal product, coproduct, or even byproduct does not support overt cruelty.
I had no idea about this:
“Calves are even cut out of their mother’s wombs… to have…their skins removed for “luxury” items.”
Wow.
Out of morbid curiosity, who is wearing foetal skin??? What are the products or brands?
Oh the depravity!
Yes. Calfskin is a very common “material” actually (and unfortunately). Also, you can read more about the harvesting of bovine fetal serum and practice of cutting them out of the whom in my post on whether abortion is vegan, as I touch on it more in depth there.
Thank you for addressing this, Emily, with your usual careful approach (frank without oversharing the horrors that would simply make most turn away without hearing the message)!
I have a deep debt of non-human animal suffering I can never repay: prior to becoming vegan earlier this year, I thought (as a vegetarian) that leather was a mere byproduct.
This seems unbelievable now (how could I have thought this), but ag-gag laws (and people’s general reluctance to think about the unpleasant practices they may be complicit in maintaining) meant that no one talked about it.
tenebrae, thank you so much for your incredibly kind words about my work. I’m honored and so encouraged to hear that my approach comes across precisely as I am hoping it will!
I totally understand your feelings of regret/deep debt. I don’t think I’ve ever met a vegan without that burden. You are spot-on that these things are deliberately not addressed. Being unaware isn’t a matter of intelligence. It’s so built into the way we are raised and socialized that we have these massive collective blind spots. I am so glad that you did make the change and become aware. No matter when it happens. We all wish we knew earlier, which is why I’m so passionate about getting people this information in an accessible and non-confrontational manner. Many thanks again for sharing!
I dont think leather is a byproduct I just think that certain animal’s are bred for certain things like meat and dairy leather comes from other animal’s like crocodiles, alligator, ostrich but it’s still wrong for the death of a living creature to fulfill the needs of certain people to get what they hope it makes sense.
Hi Joel! I think we are in agreement over the fact that it is wrong to take the life of sentient beings for our own desires. However, I do maintain that leather is a coproduct when it comes to the meat and dairy industries for all the reasons outlined in this article. If I’ve misunderstood your comment, please feel free to reply further!
I DO NOT WEAR LEATHER!!!!!!!!! I buy synthetic shoes and I use vegan soap.
I definitely think leather is not byproduct, everything profitable will be produced by many no matter how cruel it is. I always curse the dogs and cats abuser when read or watch the animal cruelty news in our country. I shouldn’t always watch the news. Animal abusers are souless, only making the law with serious punishment can prevent this happening forcefully, which doesn’t seem to happen…
Chris, so lovely to “see” you, and thank you for your comment. You are SO spot on when you say “everything profitable will be produced by many no matter how cruel it is”. That is unfortunately so, so true. Many times at the heart of so much of what we do to animals is profit. And I am sorry to again highlight cat and dog abuse in China. I did note that there is a growing and active animal activism movement in China. I know people tend to “point the finger” at other countries while not at all seeing the same behavior in their own. We all like to think the problem is somewhere else, but it’s not. It’s a human problem. In every country, every culture, everywhere.
Dear Emily, I’m a person of fairness, I’m very ok that you pointed the dog and cat abuse out. Whatever you say about China I will support you as long as it’s true, which you did perfect. But I’m ashamed to let others know I’m Chinese in social media after so many bad things happened….
—–“Chris, so lovely to see you”—– thank you, I’m so happy to see you said this.
Chris, I totally understand, but also know that all of us in EVERY country has much to be ashamed of. Not matter the country. As I emphasize in so much of my content, and especially my speech from Ireland, even the “highest standards” are atrocious. It’s human nature to want to point to other countries and cultures as horrific while assuming “it’s not like that here.” It’s like that everywhere! Much love to you, always.
“The environmental impact…is astronomical.”
What comes to mind for me are two respectable, major, conservative reports that somehow don’t seem to be talked about:
Livestock’s Long Shadow
2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO);
and
Livestock and Climate Change
Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang
November 2009
WWI
“livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32,564 million tons of CO2e per year, or 51 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions.”
Why aren’t these two studies central to current discourse, particularly with respect to climate change? I’m aware that there was some quibbling about fine-tuning the numbers a few percent but that wouldn’t explain what I perceive to be silence on these findings. What’s going on with this?
Leather is wrong on every level. A few years ago, I was shopping in Macy’s for a purse and as I always check the inside label to see if it is leather or manmade. A woman employee asked me what I was looking for. I explained to her that I don’t use any animal products, so I wanted to see if the purse was made out of leather. She was probably in her late 20’s and asked me where leather comes from? I was shocked. Are there people who don’t know.
It is rather astounding to see the extent of our human “blind spots.” One of the most common being full-grown, intelligent adults not realizing that a cow has to be pregnant to produce milk. It’s so ingrained from childhood that cows just somehow make milk all the time.
While there are cases where animals are primarily slaughtered for their skin, it is safe to say that the leather and meat industries Cross subsidise each other.
The leather industry is one of the most power intensive industries and the most polluting. The tanning process converts a biodegradable product (skin) into a finished non- biodegradable product (leather) at tremendous cost to the environment.
Thank you for the succinct summation of some of the core points, Dr. Krishna. I appreciate you taking the time to share your insights. The devastation of the leather industry is truly horrific.
Thank you, Emily, for your very informative, though horribly sad, video about leather production. I am sharing it on Facebook.
You are so very welcome, Joan. Thank you SO much for sharing it—I really can’t get this information out to people on my own. Sharing it with others means the world to me.
I’m happy to share it. Keep up the great work!