When you slip on a leather jacket, strap on a belt, or admire a luxurious car interior, do you ever pause to consider the cruelty hidden beneath that polished surface? The reality of leather is harsh and brutal. One of the most shocking practices still in use today is branding calves with red-hot irons—right on their faces.

Why brand?

Major leather suppliers, especially in countries like Brazil, continue to use hot-iron branding to mark calves for ownership. This process is not only outdated but violently cruel. Calves are often dragged from their mothers, pinned to the ground, and forcibly restrained by their ears, tails, or necks—all just to burn a mark into their skin.

A fiery scar that never heals

Branding is performed without any anesthesia or pain relief. The iron leaves a searing wound that can become infected, scar painfully, and cause lifelong trauma. Calves scream and thrash while being burned alive—and this is considered “standard practice” by much of the global leather industry.

Panic, pain & blood

Inside overcrowded chutes, young calves panic and try to escape. Workers kick them, use electric prods, step on their faces, and press hot irons to their skin. Video footage shows blood, burns, and pure panic. These are sentient beings—treated like trash for the sake of fashion, car seats, and luxury accessories.

The industry’s lie

The leather trade often claims to be a harmless by-product of the meat or dairy industry. But that’s only part of the truth. Calf hides—especially soft, unblemished ones—are extremely valuable. Branding their faces is not just about “ownership” anymore. It’s about profit. At any cost.

A painful legacy

Scientific studies confirm that hot-iron branding causes intense pain, even more than other forms like freeze-branding. Calves suffer for weeks afterward, showing stress behaviors and physical sensitivity for up to two months. Their bodies remember. Their minds remember.

What can you do?

• 🌱 Choose alternatives: Go for plant-based or synthetic leathers that don’t involve cruelty.
• ✊ Speak out: Share this truth. Question brands that use real leather. Support ethical design.
• 💥 Demand transparency: Join campaigns by organizations like PETA or FOUR PAWS that push for justice.

Every leather product supports this cruelty. Every brand on a calf’s face tells a story of violence. We have the power to end it—by making informed, compassionate choices.

Next time leather tempts you, ask: at what cost?

Choose compassion. Say no to cruelty. Be a Rebel for Animals.

What Is Bycatch?

Bycatch refers to the unintended capture of non-target marine species—like dolphins, turtles, seabirds, and juvenile fish—by commercial fishing gear such as trawls, longlines, gillnets, and drift nets [oai_citation:0‡oceana.org](https://oceana.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/bycatch_final1.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com).

How Much Marine Life Dies?

• Up to 40% of global catch—around 63 billion pounds of fish—is discarded annually .
• Shrimp trawling alone discards 5.7 kg of bycatch per kg of shrimp on average, and up to 20:1 in some tropical fisheries .
• Over 650,000 marine mammals die each year due to bycatch globally .
• 300,000 whales and dolphins drown annually entangled in fishing gear .
• 100,000 seabirds (e.g., albatrosses) die yearly on longlines .
• 100 million sharks killed each year from fishing and bycatch .
• Drift nets discard 27 million tons of fish annually .

Damage to the Fish We Eat

When so much non-target fish is killed and discarded, it undermines wild fish stocks. Bycatch reduces recruitment of younger fish and skews population structures—making fisheries less sustainable and forcing people to rely on fewer species or farmed fish .

Ocean Oxygen and Air Quality

Oceans generate nearly 50% of Earth’s oxygen and sequester carbon. Destructive fishing like bottom trawling releases 370 Mt CO₂ annually—about Germany’s emissions—and destroys sediment-based carbon sinks . Decomposing discarded life also consumes oxygen in localized “dead zones,” reducing marine productivity and, indirectly, global oxygen output.

Why It Matters for Us

Less oxygen production and more CO₂ emissions from the ocean worsen air quality and climate change. Meanwhile, dwindling fish stocks threaten global food security and marine ecosystems that filter pollutants and support coastal communities.

What Can Be Done?

• Use bycatch reduction devices (e.g., turtle excluders, bigger mesh nets) [oai_citation:1‡sciencedirect.com](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X23000490?utm_source=chatgpt.com).
• Establish no-trawling zones—especially in marine-protected areas .
• Use best practices: streamer lines, night setting of longlines, and no discard policies .
• Adopt ecosystem-based fishery management to balance catch and conservation.

Key Data at a Glance

References

• Bycatch definition & impacts: IFAW, NOAA, Wikipedia. (turn0search0, turn0search1, turn0search13)
• Species death estimates: FAO, IWC, Center for Biological Diversity, CounterPunch. (turn0search3, turn0search5, turn0search6, turn0search2)
• Global bycatch & shrimp ratios: Wikipedia. (turn0search11, turn0search13)
• CO₂ from bottom trawling: Wikipedia. (turn0search14)
• Mitigation & no-trawl zones: Science Direct, IFAW, news report. (turn0search7, turn0search13, turn0news10)