An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide: North American Jains Abstaining From Leather

Due to a growing awareness about animal cruelty, about veganism, and an awareness about the origins of many daily use items, some Jains—and especially Jain youth in North America—have started abstaining from the use of leather and leather products. Items avoided include leather jackets, wallets, purses, belts, briefcases, camera and other cases, footwear, home furnishings (sofas and chairs), and automobile seats. While all the aforementioned items are easily available leather free, the real difficulty arises when buying luxury cars models such as Mercedes, Lexus, and BMW. It is hard to find many such model cars in dealer showrooms that are leather free. In many cases either one has to settle for a lower end car or one has to order luxury models months in advance, directly from the factories, and strangely at extra costs than what one would pay for leather seats.

I am so pleased to notice that sizeable number of Jains and our Jain youth, especially in the second generation, are willing to go through the pains of doing that but will not settle for cars with leather seats. In my own family, my children and spouse have gone that route. I am so glad that they do so and set a practical example for their own children in the third generation, to see.