Four more large US retail chains have stopped buying India’s leather goods in protest against the ill-treatment of animals. Casual Corner, LL Bean, Timberland and Eddie Bauer have followed other chains such as Gap, Liz Claiborne, J.Crew and Marks & Spencer who had already dropped their Indian leather suppliers. The moves follow a major campaign by the animal rights group People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) and represent a massive blow to the Indian leather industry which was already feeling the effects of a global economic slowdown.

Mohammad Hashim, the former chairman of the Indian Council for Leather Exports and now the head of an animal welfare committee, attacked the Peta campaign, claiming it was damaging millions of people’s lives and threatening the real progress in animal welfare that was being achieved. "The leather industry employs more than 2.5 million people and is the second largest employer in the country. Sixty percent of the employees are women, many of them the only bread earner in the family. Has Peta thought about what will happen to these millions of people if the industry closes down?" he said.

The problems of animal welfare stem from the fact that several states in India have banned the slaughter of cows due to their veneration by the majority Hindu population. Farmers therefore sell their cows to middle men who then transport them in terrible conditions to another state where they can be slaughtered legally. Mr Hashim said that it was unfair to blame the leather exporters for the exploitation of the system by farmers and butchers. The leather industry has lobbied the Indian government to stop animal cruelty.

Jason Baker, India's Peta representative, said that the ban will persist until the government takes steps to change the way in which animals are slaughtered and transported.