As if there weren't already enough terror attached to the loathsome leather trade, the notoriously cruel Indian leather industry has now been linked to Islamic terrorists groups. According to a recent article in The Times of India, the illegal cattle-smuggling trade, an integral part of the leather supply chain, has been funding terrorism in India. For years now, money made in this thriving racket has reportedly been funneled to various terrorists, including one of the men convicted of killing American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.

It's pretty ironic that a country in which cows are considered sacred is one of the largest leather manufacturers in the world. In fact, Indian law makes it illegal to export cows. To get around this, traffickers force cattle to march hundreds of miles across the country. Marched for days without food or water, cows often collapse from exhaustion or despair, To keep them moving, workers smear the cows' eyes with chili peppers and tobacco and break the cows' tails. By the time the cows are crammed into illegal transport trucks and smuggled across the India-Bangladesh border, many are so sick and injured that they have to be dragged into the slaughterhouse—where their throats are slit while they are still alive.

I say we fight the war on terror by buying pleather and signing this petition to the Ambassador of India.

Posted by Amy Elizabeth

This is a must-see video.

If you're moved, click here for ideas on how to spread the word. We'd really like to see this video reach 1 million viewers—help us make that a reality!

Posted by Carrie Ann Harris

If an animal's skin has already been stolen from its rightful owner, how can you make the best of an awful situation? By giving the skin to charity!

Recently, PETA Europe donated around 100 fur coats and leather and wool items to the charity Let's Help Africa in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The charity then took the coats into the freezing mountains of Lesotho and gave them to needy farmers and poor herd boys. Even when the temperature plummets to below freezing, these folks have no choice but to spend their days working outside.

As you can see from the photos below, the people of Lesotho definitely needed these coats—and they loved having them!

After PETA Europe donated the fur coats, the president of Let's Help Africa wrote a very lovely note. In his letter, he wrote, "I am sure you sowed in good soil; those boys are beyond grateful and some of their lives will be saved because of your donation. So thank you very, very much; we honor you for your generosity."

Stories like this are only possible with your support. Every year PETA receives hundreds of fur, leather, and wool donations from compassionate people who appreciate that animals are not ours to wear. (Really, why would someone want to wear a dead animal for fun?!) So they mail us their old coats or new gifts, and we in turn donate them to charities or wildlife rehabilitation centers. This way, only people and animals who are truly in need can benefit from them.

Do you have something to donate today?

Posted by Carrie Ann Harris

the clones / CC

Short of dogfighting, there isn't any lower activity than abusing animals for the sake of art. Anyone who has a tattoo knows that you voluntarily tough it out and do it in stages, but Belgian artist Wim Delvoye has apparently put countless pigs—who have extremely sensitive skin—through hours of tattooing, covering their whole backs and down their sides in designs that range from religious emblems and Disney princesses to Louis Vuitton's logo.

Pig skin closely resembles human skin in sensitivity, so just imagine what the pigs endured by being jabbed with a needle over and over and over and over and over again—by a giant person who has restrained them and seems to have no end point in mind. The sheer intensity of the anxiety, fear, and confusion that these animals go through as they fail to understand what is happening to them is an atrocity in and of itself.

If life imitates art, what's this artist's life like, do you think? One presumes that these pigs will eventually be slaughtered for their skin—in the name of meat, art, or fashion. So please give a thought to the pigs and other animals: Check your closet for leather bags and other items, then ask yourself: Should you really hang that piece of "art" on your arm or over your shoulder?

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky

Animal rights is not just an American or European issue. All the way across the world, our colleagues in PETA India are doing their part as well. Each month, The PETA Files will bring you an update on PETA India's accomplishments.

On August 13, in Hyderabad, PETA India protesters held signs reading, "Broken Wings and Legs," while a giant crippled "chicken" crossed the road in front of a KFC to protest the company's abusive treatment of chickens and urge people not to eat at KFC until the company improves their animal welfare standards.

In Delhi, on August 22, PETA India members stood outside the Livestock and Dairy Expo to protest against the cruelty inflicted on animals raised for milk and to point out that those who drink milk share responsibility for the suffering of cows and calves outside the dairy industry. They also wanted to inform the public that dairy products are linked to heart disease and certain types of cancer in human beings.

On August 27, a PETA India activist in Lucknow led a protest against the cruel and bloody leather industry, hoping to raise awareness about the horrible suffering that animals endure before they are killed and their skin is made into leather shoes, bags, and other products.

Keep up the good work, PETA India!

Posted by Carrie Ann Harris

Beachgoers at Puri Beach in Orissa, India, were greeted by a little more than just sun and surf yesterday. PETA India recognized World Environmental Day with a giant sand sculpture of a polar bear crushed beneath a larger-than-life shoe and a sign that read, "Your carbon footprints have leather shoes." You can catch the full story here.

The 10-foot-tall sand sculpture coincided with PETA India's new environmental campaign, highlighting the harmful effects that the leather industry has on the environment. And given that India is one of the top producers of leather, the sculpture is perfectly fitting, I'd say.

Leather products full of chemicals, dyes, oils, and finishes cause irreversible devastation not only to the world's waterways and ecosystems but also to human health. And the cruelty involved with the leather industry isn't any better—since leather is the most important byproduct of the meat industry, leather production directly contributes to factory farms and slaughterhouses. And according to a 2006 United Nations report, raising animals for food creates more greenhouse gasses than all trucks, cars, planes, and ships in the world combined. The damage caused by India's leather industry makes the country a major contributor to global warming and the further endangerment of polar bears and their natural habitat.

I think PETA India's N.G. Jayasimha puts it best when he says, "Consumers can save polar bears and cows at the same time by giving leather products the boot." And well, we tend to agree.

--Jen

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky, Membership Correspondence Coordinator

Here’s a sneak preview of a pair of ads targeting the cruel exotic-skins trade that will be featured in the latest issue of PETA’s Animal Times magazine.

We have a ways to go before people stop abusing these amazing animals for the sake of fashion accessories, but I did get one piece of good news today on the issue—Yves St. Laurent, who are among the worst offenders when it comes to using exotic skins in their designs, now have a vegan men’s Oxford shoe. It’s just a tad out of my price range, but a great sign of things to come.

virginmedia/Creative Commons

Some celeb blogs are reporting that vegan actor Tobey Maguire asks guests at his home to remove any leather garments before entering the house. He says the smell makes him sick—which, well, he’s not alone there. Part of me is praying that some clueless B-lister like Kate Moss shows up for a party at Tobey’s place wearing leather pants. A man can dream …

This is the second time in recent months that Tobey has been in the news standing up for animals: In a recent interview, the Spidey star told Parade magazine:

“I’ve never had any desire to eat meat. In fact, when I was a kid I would have a really difficult time eating meat at all. It had to be the perfect bite, with no fat or gristle or bone or anything like that…. I don’t judge people who eat meat—that’s not for me to say—but the whole thing just sort of bums me out.”

Yeah, it kind of bums me out too, honestly. Anyway, thanks, Tobey, for sticking up for your beliefs.

This is pretty much apropos of nothing, but I loved this so much that I had to post it. You may remember an entry from a couple of weeks ago about an anti-leather demonstration held by PETA India members in Bangalore. Well, here's the picture of the demo again, and below it is a photo from a slightly wider angle that kinda puts the whole thing in a different light. The point is still the same, of course — the leather industry is hideously cruel, and there are plenty of humane non-animal alternatives to leather — but in this particular case, taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture is more amusing than you might think.

Indian protesters staged a colorful demonstration against the leather industry last month ...

... After a thorough investigation, officials are reportedly still completely confused

For anyone who's done animal rights protests before, you'll know that—no matter what the issue—the first thing anyone ever asks you is whether your shoes are leather (seriously, the question is almost a reflex for some people—I've heard of people being asked that at naked demonstrations). So it's always a bonus when the demonstration is focused on the treatment of cows in the leather industry—at least then, you can stay on topic.

And this particular topic is an exceptionally gruesome one in India (which, along with China, provides most of the world's leather), as today's protest in Bangalore showed to dramatic effect. The powerful demonstration was staged by a pair of PETA India members (in what appear to be canvas shoes, in case anyone's wondering) and was covered widely in the Indian media. Great work, guys.

I hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving holiday. Mine would have been pretty close to perfect if it hadn’t all been tainted by yesterday’s sad events in Tampa Bay. But the show must go on, and though it may not seem like it right now, there are more important things than the apparent inability of the Washington Redskins to throw accurate passes inside the 20-yard-line. For instance: While half the country was busy stuffing their shopping bags with every piece of fabric they could find this Friday, a number of animal lovers around the U.S. spent their holiday reminding shoppers that—as much as their rabid consumerism helps America—there are plenty of ways of doing that without hurting animals, and that it’s the easiest thing in the world to buy comfortable, stylish clothes without fur, leather, or wool. Here are a couple of the pics that ended up in my Inbox this morning—the first is from a Fur-Free Friday demonstration outside the mall here in Norfolk, and the second from a great demonstration in Miami Beach.

Here’s what Natalie Portman told The Sun last week when she was asked about her refusal to wear leather for a role:

“I'm an animal lover and I've been a vegetarian for 17 years. I won't wear leather in my own life and I won't wear it for a movie either. They have to make me clothes from fake leather.”

I’m still waiting for the right time to let Natalie Portman know the extent and depth of my feelings for her. I’ll let you know how that goes.

AskMen/Creative Commons

Last week, handbag company Hogan found themselves in a bit of an awkward spot after releasing promotional materials proclaiming that they had named a new pony-skin handbag "The Chrissie," after Pretenders singer and anti-leather crusader Chrissie Hynde. The folks at Hogan are backpedaling furiously, but Chrissie Hynde is not pleased about the situation in the least. You can read the letter she sent them this morning here.

In other Chrissie news, if you have a moment, you should definitely check out this article in The Miami Herald about how a badass like Chrissie Hynde deals with those endless nonsensical questions vegetarians often get from die-hard meat-eaters about their diet choice. Priceless.

Ummm, OMFG. Think Wynona Ryder in Beetlejuice meets that scary 35 year old Hot Topic employee at the mall, and you’re on the right track to getting your head around our annual “I’m Too Sexy For Leather” contest.

Granted, I’m more of a Paul Frank flannel nightshirt kind of guy, but all joking aside, there’s no denying that all of these pics are super hot in their own way. . . Even for sticks in the mud like me who aren’t all that into dreadlocked dudes riding vintage bikes while wearing pleather pants and straightjackets.

You know what I’m saying? Seriously, it just makes me happy to be alive. Her name is Annamarie, the place is Fresno, and there was evidently a bit of a traffic jam for a while. As Annamarie puts it, "I’ll gladly bare some of my skin if it will help save animals’ skins. With all the luxurious alternatives available, there’s absolutely no excuse to wear animal skins."

And finally, in the interest of fairness, here are some boys too.

Ever hear of the town of Totnes, England? It’s a small town in southwest England known for being a pretty progressive place to live. How progressive, you ask? Well, yes, it has the art shops, coffee houses, used bookstores, street markets, musicians and other tell-tale signs typically associated with places like Boulder, CO, and Eugene, OR, but check this out: the city government is actually considering re-covering its furniture in pleather instead of leather to keep from “offending vegetarians.” Even in a place like Totnes, this is amazing and is hopefully a sign of things to come. Boulder and Eugene, you listening?

Ahhh, tis stories like this that make me miss the motherland . . .