Redfora’s ‘Earthquake Bag’ Goes Leather-Free After PETA Appeal

Company Replaces Cow-Skin Gloves With Durable Synthetic Options

For Immediate Release:
October 15, 2019

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

Emergency preparedness is on many minds after Monday night’s earthquake—and eco-minded consumers now have a new option in emergency kits with The Earthquake Bag from Redfora, which agreed to replace all leather gloves in its kits with vegan ones after talks with PETA. The leather-free gloves save cows from being castrated and branded, having their tails cut off, and facing even worse abuse before their throats are slit in slaughterhouses.

“Redfora’s decision will help curb both environmental destruction and cruelty to gentle cows,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA applauds the company for making this important change and urges the public and other emergency-kit makers to follow Redfora’s lead and ditch leather in favor of durable vegan clothing and accessories.”

A PETA video exposé of Brazil’s JBS S.A.—the world’s largest leather processor—revealed that cows and bulls were branded on the face, electroshocked, and beaten before being killed for meat and leather. After a lifetime of intense confinement, cows are typically transported to slaughterhouses, where their throats are slit and some are even skinned and dismembered while they’re still conscious.

Animal agriculture—which includes the leather industry—is responsible for nearly a fifth of human-induced greenhouse-gas emissions and is devastating the planet on a global scale. More than 80% of the Amazon rainforest that’s been cleared since 1970 is used for grazing or for growing food for cattle who are ultimately slaughtered for food and whose skin is usually turned into leather. Recent reports found that in three environmental-impact categories—water scarcity, climate change, and overall environmental well-being—cow leather has almost three times the negative environmental impact of polyurethane leather. Vegan leather can also be made from recycled plastics, pineapples, fruit pulp, and other materials.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.