people for ethical treatment of animal

Mercedes-Benz and Saab automobile manufacturers have just announced that they will offer all models of their cars with a nonleather seat option. While Saab was happy to make this decision, it took widespread consumer demand and a campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to persuade Mercedes-Benz to budge from its initial leather-as-the-only-option stance for many models of its cars. Even as we applaud these humane choices, we have to wonder why so many other car manufacturers are reluctant to offer skin-free options.Car companies tout leather as luxurious, as if this were a fact rather than mere opinion. While undoubtedly some people like leather, automakers are incorrect in their assumption that every person in the market for a luxury car would prefer a leather interior. Some people like apples; others prefer oranges. Some like leather, and some do not. Some consumers are offended by the fact that American tanneries alone use enough skin to upholster Manhattan two and a half times and that each car with a leather interior uses the skin of approximately anywhere from four to 15 cows. Thats a lot of suffering. Automakers tripled their use of leather from 1982 to 1992, doubled it again in the five years after that and continue to increase their use of leather today. These days, leather isnt used just for luxury cars. Its also used in pick-up trucks and mid-priced sedans. Not so coincidentally, the leather goods industry in America was suffering from a decrease in demand right before this surge. According to a 1998 report, in the 20 years before the report was released, leather shoe production fell from 400 million pairs per year to 139 million. To survive, the leather industry turned its focus toward cars. The consumption of red meat has also declined in the U.S. and Europe because of ethical, environmental and health concerns. As a result, the meat industry turned its focus toward Asia and the Pacific Rim, where, along with the rates of heart disease and other meat-related illnesses, beef consumption has grown in recent years. These changes mean that there are plenty of cow hides available. In India, where I work on PETAs campaign to improve conditions for the cattle killed for their meat and skins, as well as in the U.S., leather is not merely a byproduct of the meat industry, as car manufacturers have claimed. The U.S. Department of Agricultures Agricultural Research Service more accurately states that leather is the highest value co-product of the meat industry. All this means that car companies are being pushed by those who profit from the slaughter of animals to force leather on consumers. Automakers then use leather, a cheap product, as a way to charge consumers more. A few years ago, a leather package added $895 to the sticker price of a 1999 Mercury Cougar V6 or $795 to the Mercury Tracer LS Sport.So are all consumers demanding leather interiors as car companies imply? Absolutely not. One Texas shopping-center owner very publicly ripped out the leather seats of her new high-end Mercedes and had them replaced with pleathera non-animal leather alternative. Consumers who do not want leather should be given a choice. And car manufacturers who are truly loyal to their consumers will make that choice available.