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Golf Gloves - Sustainable and Ethical?

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fupresti

fupresti

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I wont post the article here because its pretty disturbing, but my wife gave me a news article that showed that dogs are being skinned for the purpose of creating golf gloves in parts of Asia.

Now, I don't believe that FootJoy, Callaway and others are utlizing these types of materials, but it made me wonder if the main manufacturers in the US are utlizing ethical practices with the harvest and use of cabretta leather with thier suppliers.

Is this something that you would care about or be concerned with if it was discovered that materials for these types of products was coming from less than reputable sources?
 
I had no idea where the source materials were coming from, but just another reason I am glad I went gloveless starting last year. I think it would bother me if I was playing with a golden retriever glove to be honest.
 
If it was widespread, then I'd be very concerned. This is super disturbing as it is, but if its a new issue, I think that the companies involved could be outed and black balled within the golf community. Then again, I could see this being a Walmart/discount store, low cost thing where corners are being cut on ethics and decency just to make an extra buck.

Some people are really screwed up
 
If I found out the source material was coming form something like this Yes I would completely quit using that brand of gloves.
 
Another good reason I don't use a glove. Not really, but if this is a widespread practice I find it appalling.
 
Makes me think a lot harder about the golf glove industry now. I mean big box golf stores carries hundreds of gloves. Only so much material to make said gloves, its coming from somewhere.
 
Is there really an ethical way to kill and remove the skin from an animal? A sharper knife, more powerful bullet, better drainage?

If a company was using a blue heeler I wouldn't use it.
 
This is disturbing but not shocking. If I found out a company that I used was doing this I would have a big problem with it. I wouldnt give up using a glove just know where the material I use is being sourced from.
 
I hadn't really thought about this before reading your post. Right now I find it impossible to not be very unsettled just by knowing. I really hope this is/was an extremely rare occurrence and bringing it to light ends the practice.
 
Scrap Iron said:
Is there really an ethical way to kill and remove the skin from an animal? A sharper knife, more powerful bullet, better drainage?

If a company was using a blue heeler I wouldn't use it.
Click to expand...

Not really no. But I have a soft spot for dogs.
 
Pretty disturbing to say the least. If I found out the glove I use/like is not made properly I would drop it in a heart beat.

The bigger issue is, how would we know if our glove was made here or abroad?
 
This is really disturbing and I would like to know if any of the gloves sold here are from this. I would never use them.
 
I would totally want my gloves coming from a reputable source, no way I want animals to be treated like that, or add to their suffering. That is quite disturbing.
 
If I ever found out my glove came from the hide of a dog not only would I stop using a glove, I would start a social media tyrade that would get me sued. I would do everything in my power to wound them financially.

How do we get a list of companies doing this?
 
Im not implying that US companies are using dogs, but they are using sheep which is the source for Cabretta leather. Does it matter to you that the animals used are treated humanely?
 
I expect them to be humanely treated
 
fupresti said:
Im not implying that US companies are using dogs, but they are using sheep which is the source for Cabretta leather. Does it matter to you that the animals used are treated humanely?
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To me it would matter. As I believe all living things should be treated humanely.
 
Did a little research, all sites pointed to smugglers in Thailand that are selling to China. It is illegal and authorities are aware of it. Even more disturbing is the part of skin that they use, not sure everyone wants to know that so I won't share.
 
Synthetic "leather" seems to work just as well for me (Callaway).
 
Ughhh my God, my conscience is killing me. It never really crossed my mind until the word dog came out of it, is there really a need to kill any animal for a glove? I always assumed it was just excess from a cow that was shaved and turned into a glove. Man there are some things I just shouldn't think about.
 
I'dHitThat said:
Did a little research, all sites pointed to smugglers in Thailand that are selling to China. It is illegal and authorities are aware of it. Even more disturbing is the part of skin that they use, not sure everyone wants to know that so I won't share.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Widely reported last April. Mostly from killing stray dogs, but maybe pets, too. I am confident the "name" manufacturers really use Cabretta leather. Ugg boots have been linked to dog skins.
 
fupresti said:
Im not implying that US companies are using dogs, but they are using sheep which is the source for Cabretta leather. Does it matter to you that the animals used are treated humanely?
Click to expand...

It does me, I'm not naive enough to think this is always the case though. If I knew a certain company uses leather that was obtained by skinning animals alive or something of the like I would definitely be purchasing my products elsewhere.

I wouldn't mind giving a fully synthetic glove a try. I'm far from a vegan, but if I can find a product that performs as well as leather and cut the possibility of it's former name being fido I'd be all for it.
 
There is a large demand for dog at restaurants in China and Vietnam so I'm guessing the hides are used for not only golf gloves but to make other items such as drum skins as well. It's certainly not something I condone but Americans sometime forget that 95% of the worlds population lives outside the U.S. and many have very different customs and diets from ours. My wife travels quite a bit to China for work and has seen first hand dog on the menu at restaurants.
 
In some parts of the world the use of cow leather or beef is outlawed as is pig leather and pork consumption. I am sure those people would scoff at our use of it for shoes, footballs, gloves, etc. What "we" consider to be "humane" may differ from other parts of the world.

The use of dog for food and leather etc, is common in parts of Asia and Africa. One man's meat is another man's pet I suppose. But that does not make it wrong.

I would like to think that the big name glove makers are obtaining their glove/leather supplies from reputable sources.
 
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