‘Imagine the cows’ terror’: Animal rights group PETA calls for CFL to end use of leather footballs

The Canadian Football League is receiving criticism from an unlikely source this week, as an infamous animal rights group has placed them at the centre of a campaign to end the use of leather footballs.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has released the results of an undercover investigation at Rodabaugh Bros. Meats, an Ohio slaughterhouse that produces leather for Wilson’s official CFL footballs. They claim that cows are subject to unethical treatment at the facility, including slaughtering practices with a captive bolt gun that violate guidelines put forth by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Additionally, they have produced videos showing the cows being forced to watch the killing and dismemberment of their herdmates in close proximity, contrary to best practices laid out by the North American Meat Institute and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.

“Imagine the cows’ terror as their acute sense of smell detects the blood, and as they see their herd mates being slaughtered in front of them, realizing that’s what’s about to happen to them next,” PETA vice president Philip Schein, a Toronto native, wrote in a letter to CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston.

According to the report, Wilson, which has exclusive contracts with both the CFL and NFL, makes approximately 700,000 leather footballs per year. At a rate of 10 footballs per skin, that results in the killing of 70,000 cows in production.

PETA is calling on the CFL, as well as the NFL and Wilson, to work together on a synthetic or plant-based leather alternative to eliminate the use of real leather footballs entirely. On their website, they specifically applaud the work of reigning Most Outstanding Player, Brady Oliveira, in rescuing dogs, asking for the league to follow suit by doing more to protect animals.

Current CFL rules dictate that all footballs must be real animal leather, though each one contains several artificial components, including pebbled texture for grip, dyed colour, a polyurethane bladder, polyester thread, and PVC laces. Other professional sports, like rugby and soccer, already mandate the use of synthetic balls for improved performance.

PETA is a nonprofit organization founded in 1980 and based in Norfolk, Va. They are famous globally for their wide-ranging and disruptive media campaigns on animal rights issues, sometimes landing them in controversy.