Uber Pulls Leather-Interior Requirement Across All Markets After PETA Appeal
On-Demand Car Company No Longer Demands Animal-Skin Car Seats for UberBLACK
For Immediate Release:
November 24, 2015
Contact:
Catie Cryar 202-483-7382
After PETA pointed out to Uber that today’s socially conscious millennials are opposed to killing and skinning cows for environmentally unfriendly leather car interiors, the San Francisco–based on-demand transportation leader removed the leather requirement for UberBLACK cars in all markets. The five markets that previously required leather interiors have adjusted their websites to either remove the leather requirement or, in the case of Chicago, specify that vegan leather is welcome.
“High-end vegan leather is eco-friendly, cruelty-free, and right on trend with Uber’s demographic of socially progressive riders,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s supporters can now look forward to rides on luxurious seats that never harmed a hair on a cow’s head.”
The five markets that previously required leather interiors for UberBLACK vehicles are Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Phoenix. UberBLACK drivers in these and all other Uber markets are now welcome to choose from the stylish, high-end, high-performance vegan leather interiors offered by BMW, Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, and many other luxury automakers.
As PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—pointed out to Uber, the millions of cows whose skins are turned into leather endure branding, tail-docking, dehorning, and castration, all without painkillers. Those who survive the grueling journey to the slaughterhouse may be improperly stunned and skinned while they’re still alive. Turning animals’ skin into leather requires 130 different chemicals, including cyanide, and leather production produces massive amounts of the carbon emissions that contribute to climate change.
PETA’s correspondence with Uber is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.
