PETA calls out CFL and here’s why they have beef
A high-profile animal rights group is urging the CFL to change the way its footballs are made.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is alleging that there is animal cruelty happening by creating the current version of CFL footballs. The organization is encouraging Canada’s top football league to team up with Wilson to create fully synthetic footballs.
The call comes following PETA’s undercover investigation at an Ohio slaughterhouse that supplies leather for Wilson’s current CFL footballs. The investigation went into great detail to allege animal cruelty.
PETA claims that one cow’s skin is needed to make roughly 10 footballs and that Wilson makes approximately 700,000 leather footballs a year. This math suggests that at least 70,000 cows are killed annually for the production of Wilson footballs.
“CFL footballs already have many synthetic features, including synthetic bladders, laces, stitching, and pebbled texture for grip, so there is only a need to replace the ball’s leather casing. Other outdoor professional sports, including the highest levels of soccer and rugby, prefer synthetic balls for their consistent performance, especially in adverse weather conditions,” PETA vice president Philip Schein wrote in a letter to CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston.
“Wilson already manufactures a variety of synthetic footballs for different levels of play and so already has the technology to develop a prime-quality synthetic or plant leather football that meets or exceeds the standards of the cowskin ball.”
Daily Hive has reached out to CFL officials for comment, but has yet to receive a response on the matter.
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