SHILLONG , Oct 13: A Progressive Business Concept Award is on the way from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India to James Sangma, Meghalaya’s minister for forests and environment, in recognition of his plans to help local farmers by encouraging vegan pineapple-leather production – a move that will also protect animals and the environment. The state is also planning to open a climate change museum and introduce climate change into school curricula.
A copy of the award can be viewed and downloaded here. (https://www.petaindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Progressive-Business-Concept-Award-James-Sangma-A4_300-new-scaled.jpg)
“Minister Sangma has rightly identified the climate crisis as “a defining challenge of our times’, and he’s already taking steps to address one of the biggest culprits: animal agriculture,” says PETA India Senior Campaigns Coordinator Radhika Suryavanshi. “PETA India looks forward to seeing Meghalaya create new opportunities for farmers while helping to save the planet and animals’ lives through a thriving pineapple-leather industry.”
According to the United Nations, animal agriculture – which includes animals killed for clothing – is responsible for nearly a fifth of human-induced greenhouse-gas emissions. To keep the skins of cows, buffaloes, and other animals used for leather from rotting, tanneries use a variety of caustic, toxic chemicals, which pollute waterways. One of the most widely used chemicals in the tanning process is chromium, which can cause cancer in workers exposed to it.
The leather industry also causes animal suffering on a massive scale. Cattle used for leather in India are often crammed into vehicles in such large numbers that their bones break. Those who survive the gruelling journey to the slaughterhouse endure agonizing deaths: their throats are cut in full view of other animals, and many are dismembered while they’re still conscious.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.