3. Where can I buy non-leather items?
EMS, REI, the North Face and Neptune Mountaineering all carry non-leather belts and wallets. You can buy traditional styles of non-leather shoes at Payless Shoe Source and many independent outlets. All of the major athletic shoe companies make durable, comfortable shoes without leather. Eddie Bauer and L.L.Bean make non-leather luggage and other items. You can buy imitation leather (“pleather”) coats, jackets and other items from a variety of sources, even from Harley Davidson! The following companies offer vegan footwear: www.mooshoes.com, www.pangea.com and www.veganessentials.com. Check out the many options at http://www.caringconsumer.com/alt2.html.

4. What's wrong with wool?
The wool industry has its own set of cruelties. The ears of young lambs are punched to attach tags, their tails are cut off and the males are castrated. All of this is done without anesthetic..

The large size of sheep herds, primarily in Australia, means ranchers cannot give much attention to individual sheep. As a result, many die from neglect, disease and lack of shelter.

Sheep shearing proceeds quickly because shearers are paid by the pound. Speed, not the welfare of the animal, is paramount. What’s more, sheep are more susceptible to exposure than humans because they have a higher body temperature. Many die of exposure after being shorn.

Scientists have bred Merino sheep with extremely wrinkled skin. This is good for profits (more skin equals more wool) but not for sheep. Perspiration causes dampness in the folds of skin. As a result, the sheep have greater susceptibility to fly-strike, a maggot infestation in the sweaty folds of skin. The response of ranchers is to perform an operation called “mulesing” to remove a large patch of flesh from under the tail. In addition to the trauma of the operation performed without anesthetic, this leaves a serious wound and subjects the sheep to infection.

The sheep industry is a major supporter of efforts to kill predators such as mountain lions and coyotes. In Colorado, the successful effort to ban wildlife trapping was vehemently opposed by the state’s “wool growers” association.

Most outdoor enthusiasts switched to polar fleece or other synthetic fabrics long ago. These fabrics are lighter, have greater wicking ability, can be machine-washed and provide better insulation when wet.

Thanks to PETA and HEDWEB. For more information, visit http://www.peta.org/mc/facts/fsm6.html and http://www.hedweb.com/arfaq/arsec7q.htm.

5. What's wrong with down?
Down is created from feathers plucked from live geese. The birds desperately struggle to escape this torture and are often injured in the process. They are returned to their pen until the next plucking in about eight weeks. This continues through four or five cycles until they are slaughtered.

There is no need to participate in this suffering. For only a small weight penalty, PrimaLoft®, Polarguard® and other synthetic materials insulate better when wet and are less expensive.

Thanks to PETA and HEDWEB. For more information, visit http://www.peta.org/mc/facts/fsm6.html and http://www.hedweb.com/arfaq/arsec7q.htm.

6. What's wrong with silk?
Silk is produced by caterpillars. Five hundred caterpillars die to produce 1 kilogram (0.45 pounds) of raw silk.

Several species of caterpillar spin a cocoon in which to encase themselves while they develop into a moth. If they are allowed to emerge as moths, however, the silk strands are damaged. To prevent this, they are killed while still in the cocoon. Death is brought about by boiling them alive, subjecting them to microwave radiation, injecting hot steam into the cocoon, poisoning them with gas as well as other methods.

Plenty of alternatives to silk are cheaper and don’t involve cruelty.

Thanks to The Vegan Society. For more information, visit http://www.vegansociety.com/html/info/info19.html.

7. What's wrong with fur?
Intelligent, sensitive animals such as foxes, minks, raccoons and beavers are killed to produce fur. They have rich emotional lives that involve love, fear, pain and, yes, mental illness.

On fur farms, these sensitive creatures are confined in small pens without any chance of living freely or expressing their natural instincts. Many develop mental disorders evidenced by self-mutilation, continual pacing and even cannibalism. Methods of slaughter include but are not limited to anal electrocution, gas poisoning, cervical dislocation (having their necks broken) or crushing (being stomped to death).

By contrast, trapped animals live more natural lives but suffer agonizingly slow deaths. They endure excruciating pain while ensnared in traps (for instance, the ghastly steel-jaw leghold trap) that subject them to gangrene, blood loss, infection and predation from other animals. Some animals, especially mothers desperate to return to their young, may even chew off their own leg to escape.

Thanks to PETA. For more information, visit http://www.peta.org/mc/facts/fswild3.html.