Leather Sales in Boulder to Elicit PETA Black Sludge Dump Downtown

For Immediate Release:
April 12, 2024

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

Passersby in downtown Boulder will be in for an eyeful on Tuesday as PETA supporters brandishing buckets proclaiming, “Leather Is a Dirty Business,” will dump black sludge all over themselves in a bid to push onlookers to stop purchasing leather items. The action ahead of Earth Day (April 22) is part of PETA’s campaign highlighting the environmental devastation caused by the leather industry and urging retailers and consumers to steer clear of leather and all other animal-derived materials.

Where: Near Pearl Street Mall (at the intersection of Pearl Street and Broadway), Boulder

When: Tuesday, April 16, 12 noon

PETA supporters cover themselves in black sludge outside an Urban Outfitters store during a previous demonstration. Credit: PETA

“Cows and calves lead short, miserable lives for leather bags and shoes, which require enormous amounts of energy and dangerous chemicals to produce,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on everyone to dump leather and switch to animal- and planet-friendly vegan materials.”

Cows used for leather are castrated and branded and their tails are cut off—all without painkillers—before they’re violently killed. Leather production also destroys the planet: Animal agriculture, which includes the leather industry, is responsible for nearly one-fifth of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, and turning skin into leather requires significant energy and dangerous chemicals, including formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, and cyanide-based oils, dyes, and finishes. Sustainable vegan leather can be made from prickly pear cactus, mushrooms, apples, pineapples, and other innovative materials.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—points out thatEvery Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.

For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.