Leather sector hits back at “nonsensical” reporting

LONDON – The UK leather industry has hit back at what it says are nonsensical, misleading claims about leather which appear in Resurgence & Ecologist magazine. In an open letter responding to the article, Leather UK suggests there should be a “minimum threshold for any report with regards its accuracy and balance. This report fell short of that threshold … and preferred to opt for drama and hyperbole over facts.”

Specifically, the article claims leather is forcibly created through the slaughter of billions of cows. In response, Leather UK director Kerry Senior suggests this dramatic figure is simply wrong. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, he said, the global cattle population is around 1.6 billion animals, of which approximately 300 million are slaughtered each year.