NBA Goes Leather-Free!

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is opting to permanently bench leather balls in favor of better-performing, cruelty-free synthetic basketballs, like those already in use by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Women’s National Basketball Association, beginning with its 2006/2007 season!

Although basketball may be a game to us, it’s no fun for cows whose skins are used to make basketballs. Overseas, where much of the leather used in the U.S. is produced, cows are marched to slaughter for days without food or water, causing many to collapse en route; crowded onto transport trucks, where they frequently break bones, suffocate, or gouge each other with their horns; and often dismembered and skinned while they are still alive. In this country, pigs and cattle are often inadequately stunned so that they are still conscious when their hooves are severed.

The process of tanning leather is also tremendously destructive to the environment, releasing scores of dangerous chemicals into our water supply. Tannery workers and people who live near tanneries are stricken with life-threatening diseases at rates that are many times the national average.

On January 9, 2006, PETA sent the NCAA information on the horrors of the leather industry, including the fact that it takes the skin of an entire cow to make just four basketballs. The switch to synthetic balls was announced on June 28, 2006.

It’s easy to moo-ve away from leather. In fact, Spalding Sports carries synthetic basketballs as well as volleyballs, softballs, soccerballs, and footballs. Visit CowsAreCool.com for more information.