Animal rights charity asks Welsh council for Cow Memorial Plaque at former leather factory

Stephen Price

Animal rights charity, PETA, has sent a letter to a Welsh council to ask for a memorial to slaughtered cows to be erected on the site of a former leather goods factory which has been earmarked for a new housing development.

Following reports that the site of the now-shuttered Sandringham Leather Goods Factory in Llanidloes will be developed into new houses, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sent a letter to Powys County Council requesting that it erect a memorial plaque at the site to commemorate the cows who suffered for the skins that passed through the building.

PETA Vice President of Corporate Projects Yvonne Taylor, said: “Cows can recognise the faces of their friends in photographs, and they mourn when a loved one dies, yet every year millions are strung up, and their throats are slit so their skin and flesh can be sold.”

“The skins of countless cows who were violently killed passed through this building, and PETA is calling on local officials to acknowledge this atrocity with an honorary plaque.”

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Pollutants

According to the UK division of the global charity, animal skins are a billion-pound co-product of the meat industry, and profits from skin sales drive the slaughter of hundreds of millions of animals each year.

A PETA exposé of the global animal skin industry found that animals are exposed to the elements and denied food and water during gruelling journeys to abattoirs, where their throats are slit while they’re still conscious and able to feel pain.

Turning animal skin into leather requires up to 170 unique chemicals, including cyanide, aluminium, and chromium.

Animal agriculture, which includes the skin industry, is a leading contributor to the climate catastrophe.

Cow leather has been ranked as the most polluting textile in fashion by industry reports.

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Letter

The letter, address to Powys County Council, reads: "Hello from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). As a county that’s home to a Kindness Festival, and in the spirit of a sustainable Powys, I’m writing to request that the council erect an ‘in memorial’ plaque at the former Sandringham Leather Goods Factory to commemorate the gentle animals who suffered for the leather that transited through this site. This memorial would highlight the individuals killed there and remind the site’s new homeowners to furnish their homes and wardrobes with compassion. 

"The global leather trade cruelly exploits and slaughters more than one billion animals—cows, sheep, goats, cats, dogs, and more—each year. Cows raised in India, one of the world’s largest supply countries, endure lengthy death marches to slaughter, often collapsing from thirst, exhaustion, injury, hunger, or despair. Handlers break animals’ tails or rub tobacco, chillies, or salt into their eyes to keep them moving. At the abattoir, cows' feet are bound, and they’re slaughtered in full view of each other. Sometimes, their legs are hacked off while they’re still conscious and endure the agony of being skinned alive.

"The UK’s abuse of animals used for their skins is no better. A valuable co-product of meat, leather purchases directly fund filthy factory farms, where many cows—who form lifelong bonds and even have best friends—live without companionship or even sunlight. They, too, are sometimes slaughtered while conscious, kicking after their throats are slit. 

"The human and environmental toll of leather is also immense. Recently, the University of Sussex revealed that a quarter of Bangladesh’s leather workers are children, often orphans forced to handle sharp instruments and chemicals 10 hours a day just to survive. As it’s someone’s skin, leather would be rot if not for the tannery chemicals, and handling and inhaling the toxic mix of mineral salts, formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, cyanide-based and dyes used sees around 90 percent of tannery workers in Bangladesh die before turning 50. These chemicals also pollute the soil and waterways around them, while cattle ranching for skins and meat is responsible for 80 percent of deforestation in the Amazon.

"Thank you for considering honouring those whose delicate skins have passed through Sandringham Leather Goods Factory. I look forward to hearing from you."

A growing number of top designers, high-street stores, and online retailers now offer shoes, jackets, handbags, wallets, iPhone covers, and more made from vegan leather, micro-suede, and other high-quality materials which campaigners say don’t harm animals or the planet.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits.

For more information, visit PETA.org.uk or follow PETA on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.