We don't hide the fact that we use real leather in every single collar and leash that we make. This may not make us the right choice for potential consumers who are vegan, but leather was the right choice for our team at Safe & Hound for a few specific reasons.

Leon's Leather Industry

Half of our team at Safe & Hound lives in Leon, Mexico, which is known for being the shoe capital of the world. Leather-making is Leon's largest industry, with its inception dating back to the late 1500's, as Spanish settlers established cattle farming in Leon, and the people expanded to leather-making to ensure that there was little-to-no waste produced in the farming of their cattle. Today, their leather industry continues to flourish, and tanneries have been additionally regulated to utilize clean leather tanning techniques to ensure that the water used is appropriately cleaned and not dumping untreated contaminants into the water. The lengths by which Leon has gone to reduce their impact on the environment is incredible, and we are proud to support their leather industry.

Using Recycled Leather

Each collar and leash is interfaced with recycled leather, which is easily accessible and produced in Leon, Mexico, due to their large leather industry. Recycled leather is made through the collection of leather scraps and waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill, and is then shredded, treated with resin, heated to a high temperature, and compressed into large chunks of recycled leather. These larger pieces can either be formed or cut down into nearly any shape and thickness, and used as normal in the creation of new products. Recycled leather is just as durable as new leather, and is an exceptional material to reinforce our collars and leashes with for additional strength.

Reducing Non-Biodegradable Materials

When it comes to pet good, the majority of dog collars and leashes utilize either woven nylon webbing or a relatively new alternative called BioThane, which is a coated webbing product. Both of these materials are generally strong and durable, are available in a host of bright colours, and are relatively easy to keep clean. Despite feeling like a fabric, nylon itself is a type of plastic, and is developed with a high pressure, heated chemical process that stretches that plastic into flexible strands. BioThane utilizes polyester webbing at its core, and is coated in PVC (polyvinyl chloride) for waterproofing. As you can probably tell, none of these plastics will biodegrade naturally, and while they could be recycled, these products typically find their way into the trash. While we do offer a recycling program, we want to ensure that if someone does decide to throw a damaged collar away, the remnants of it will not exist forever.

If you have additional questions about Safe & Hound's use of leather in our products, please don't hesitate to reach out to our team and we'll do our best to help!