Originally Posted by
jjvw
This thread just got murdered.
I'm a vegetarian and I agree with Andrea. The cow killing industry is not predicated by Brooks. If we are going to kill an animal, then we ought make use of as much of it as we can.
Consider this sp00ki, a Brooks will decompose and the steel frame will rust away or can be recycled. While your vegan plastic saddle will be with us forever to choke future generations of innocent creatures. Not mention that same plastic encourages the oil war we are in right now.
A leather saddle may actually the responsible choice.
wrong...wrong...wrong
Think about it from a supply and demand stand point. If you purchase any part of a cow, you are perpetuating the killing of more cows by supporting the industry. The higher the value of a cow goes, the more cows will be slaughtered until the supply and demand hit equilibrium. That being said, we aren't discussing cheap leather here, we are talking about high-quality high-priced leather. Sorry to break it to you, but this doesn't come from everyday beef cattle. The simple fact is, just like in humans, a younger cow has softer, more supple leather with less chance for scars or imperfection. Depending on how high end the leather is, it may have come from veal cows, or may have come from cows "farmed" solely for their hide.
As far as pollution goes, don't think for one second that they skin a cow and it goes directly to your shoes, jacket, or saddle in this case. The list of chemicals used to tan and treat leather includes: lime, sodium sulfate solution, emulsifiers, non-solvent de-greasing agents, salt, formic acid, sulfuric acid, chromium sulfate salts, lead, zinc, formaldehyde, fats, alcohol, sodium bicarbonate, dyes, resin binders, waxes, coal tar derivatives and cyanide-based finishes. Some estimates put the amount of environmentally harmful waste at up to 30% of the output (this doesn't include unused skin and hair).
Since most of you wont even read this, I'm sorry for killing this thread.