Top 10 Tuesday: Reasons Why Faux Is Better Than Skins

1. 

   Animals on fur farms are denied everything that is natural and important to them.

   Skins are toxic. To keep them from decomposing in your closet, fur and leather are loaded with dangerous chemicals—including mineral salts, formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, and various oils, dyes, and finishes—some of which are cyanide-based.

2. Fur hurts! Investigators discovered animals on fur farms suffering from anxiety-induced psychoses, such as neurotically pacing inside their cramped wire cages. Many animals are still alive when they are skinned, and some remain conscious for up to 10 minutes after their skins are ripped off.
3. Leather wrecks the environment. Turning skin into leather requires massive amounts of energy and chemicals; in many cases, the chemicals are haphazardly dumped into nearby lakes, streams, and rivers.
4. Leather keeps factory farms in business. Every time you buy a leather jacket or leather shoes, you sentence animals to a lifetime of suffering. Buying leather keeps factory farms and slaughterhouses in business, since the skins of animals are a profitable byproduct of the meat and dairy industries.
5. You might be wearing Fluffy or Fido. Hundreds of thousands of skins from dogs and cats are traded in Europe each year, with an estimated 2 million dogs and cats killed in China annually.
6. Pleather breathes better. Fake leather clothes won’t leave you sweating like real skins do. Faux materials can be made to be more breathable because they are made by humans, for humans.
7. Synthetics keep you warmer. Fur and leather are only “natural” when they’re on the animal born with them. Synthetic materials are much more wind-resistant and durable than wool or fur.
8. The dictionary says … Merriam-Webster added “pleather” to its Collegiate Dictionary’s Eleventh Edition because the term is so widely used. Pleather yourself—the dictionary says so!
9. Hogs go faux. Harley-Davidson has released a full line of nonleather biker gear—now you can ride without hide!
10. You get more bang for your buck. Synthetic materials are often cheaper than real fur, leather, and wool. Stylish faux alternatives will take a load off your conscience but not your cash flow.

With so many available alternatives nowadays, there’s simply no excuse to continue killing animals for their skin. You can still get a “killer look” without harming animals! There are many things that you can do to make sure that the only skin that you’re in is your own, including taking our Pledge to Be Fur-Free.

Posted by Jason Baker