NBA Says No To Leather (Mickey Z.)

Mickey Z. -- World News Trust

"I admit to having worn suede and leather myself for a while, but you just never felt clean, and it’s degenerate anyway to use animal skins." --Andy Warhol

Oct. 6, 2006 -- In the bling bling world of the National Basketball Association (NBA), leather is on its way out. Not the shoes, boots, sneakers, pants, or ubiquitous motorcycle jacket... I'm talking about the ball itself.

"Spalding urged the NBA to switch to a composite model because it was having trouble securing 'consistent' leather to keep manufacturing the ball that has been used for decades," writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. New Jersey Net Jason Kidd is skeptical. "They probably couldn't sell (the leather ball)," he said. "It was an indoor model. A lot of kids play outside, so maybe that was the reason." Whatever the reason for the switch, here's a little something the $1.5-billion and 100-million- animal- skins- per- year U.S. leather industry would probably prefer you didn't know.

"Leather is not simply a slaughterhouse byproduct," writes animal issues columnist Carla Bennett. "It's a booming industry and an important part of the slaughter trade, since skin accounts for approximately 50 percent of the total byproduct value of cattle." Leather is also made from slaughtered horses, sheep, lambs, goats, and pigs. "When dairy cows' production declines, for example, their skin is made into leather; the hides of their offspring, 'veal' calves, are made into high-priced calfskin," adds Bennett. "Thus, the economic success of the slaughterhouse (and the factory farm) is directly linked to the sale of leather goods."

Another tactic for procuring animal skins is hunting. Species such as zebras, bison, water buffaloes, boars, deer, kangaroos, elephants, eels, sharks, dolphins, seals, walruses, frogs, crocodiles, lizards, and snakes are murdered solely for their hides. These animals are often endangered or illegally poached -- and death is rarely swift or painless. Alligators are clubbed with axes and hammers and may suffer for hours. Reptiles are skinned alive to achieve suppleness in the leather and may take days to die. Kid goats are boiled alive.

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