‘Was She Killed to Make Your Carry-On?’: Anti-Leather Message Takes Off Near DFW Airport

For Immediate Release:
December 5, 2023

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

Holiday travelers rushing to and from one of the busiest airports in the U.S. will be reminded that cruelty doesn’t fly, courtesy of a PETA message now appearing on rideshare vehicles asking passengers in the heart of cattle country to consider who was killed for their carry-ons.

“Cows are gentle, social animals who are forced to endure agonizing deaths at the hands of the environmentally disastrous leather industry,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges everyone to opt for cruelty-free luggage that is unquestionably better for the planet and leaves skin where it belongs—on the animal who was born with it.”

Leather is a big business in Texas, with approximately 4.3 million cows killed for their flesh and skin every year and Nocona touting itself as the “Leather Capital of the Southwest.” Animal agriculture, which includes the leather industry, is responsible for nearly one-fifth of all human-made greenhouse gas emissions. Turning skin into leather also requires massive amounts of energy and highly dangerous chemicals, including formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, and cyanide-based oils, dyes, and finishes, which have polluted nearby water sources and poisoned entire communities.

Vegan carry-ons, including chic pieces from Lug and Matt & Nat, are both stylish and durable enough to withstand the worst a baggage handler can throw at them—without contributing to cruelty to animals or the climate catastrophe.

The ads will be featured on Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare vehicles around the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport through the holiday season.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.