Fashion
The fashion industry can be cruel. Sometimes clothing can be made from the fur and skin of animals. When we farm cows for meat or to drink their milk, we also use their skin and turn it into everyday items. This is known as leather. Leather is the skin from cows which is used to make shoes, handbags, belts and lots of other things. The good news is, it isn’t necessary that leather is used, all of these items can be bought cruelty-free.
Leather
Viva!’s campaign, The Big Cover Up, showed people the cruelty behind leather and encouraged others to stop buying leather for good!
Just as cow skin is used for leather, so are the skins of kangaroos. Kangaroo leather is used to make football boots. In 2003, Viva! played a leading role in showing the horrors of kangaroo leather and still continues to fight against Adidas, Nike, Puma! and Umbro to make sure they kick the cruelty out of their boots!
Fur
The fashion industry also uses the fur from foxes, minks and rabbits for clothing. These animals are kept in small cages and are treated very badly until they are killed for their fur. Lots of clothing companies use fake fur so there is no need to take it from animals. Faux fur looks lovely and most importantly, no animals are hurt in the making!
Wool
We stay warm in winter by wearing jumpers and cardigans, but some of these are made using sheep’s wool. When sheep are killed for meat, we also use their wool to make clothes and other items. Wool is cut off the sheep in a process called shearing. Sometimes this can be done too fast and can hurt the sheep. Shearing can also be very frightening for the sheep. We can use lots of other materials to make our winter jumpers which are just as cosy!
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