A guy I know is ethically driven. He`s vegan and his girlfriend would cheer at the tv when a trawler sank and the fishermen were killed. He was arrested 3 times for hunt sabotage. To be fair, he didn`t wince or judge when I told him I come from a farming background. He had to have an operation on his back a while ago and did he refuse the painkillers that had probably been tested on animals? Did he heck!
Animals are predominantly slaughtered for meat and the skin is a by-product. If the skin wasn't used for leather, it would end up in land-fill, or require disposal by other means. Think about how much meat we eat and how vast the disposal sites would need to be to dispose of all the animal skins. This would be a complete waste of a valuable resource.
I would hope that veggies could see the sense in making use of animal skin. I'd say it's acceptable to go to a veggie restaurant with a leather bag.
They are biodegradable but take a heck of a long time to biodegrade, and give off greenhouse gases in the process. And what a waste of a product! Wouldn't make any sense at all to me.
Ummmm, yes he was an activist although I think he was influenced by his then girlfriend. He cooked me a vegan meal once. It was quite nice. Indian vegan food is lovely. I could easily be veggie there. Vegans have quite a hard time getting all the nutrients and like a lot of vegans, he`s as white as a sheet!
True, Maidup. But then we'd have no milk to drink, no cheese, no milk-related products....there'd be no animals in the fields, because they're bred for food...which in turn would affect our diet...I'm sure there are other points too.
unfortunately, binning the skins would not prevent the animal dying for food, so although personally i am not keen on leather, i understand its a byproduct and better than wasting it.
if the animals were killed solely for their skins - as in the fur trade - it would be a different issue....
ive been a veggie for 20 years and never been a sabateur.
you *can* be a non-meat eater for personal or other reasons not dedicated to 'animal welfare' but that would not necessarily make you a veggie, hence allowing animal fats etc.