Pony Hair Shoes! or are they?

I was checking out a newish shoe shop that opened in Erina Fair, it is a discount shoe shop that has some prices that seem too good to be true.

I picked up one pair that was furry leopard / giraffe kind of print that looked interesting with a very sensible heel height, I checked them over and threw them down in shock as I read on the sticker "Pony Hair". I felt bad not only because I had a slain Pony in my hand and had considered to buy them before I knew their origin, but because I also threw a shoe that wasn't mine.

All afternoon I was making myself sick by reading various posts on Pony Hair, until I realised people in yahoo questions really don't know the facts. I got in contact with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) just to confirm if my readings were true or not.

This is what I was told "“Pony” hair is typically cow flesh without the fur removed, which companies then market as an exotic item. We recommend always avoiding pony hair and other types of skin, and choosing cruelty-free alternatives instead." This basically means it is cow hide that has been dyed.

This made me wonder why in my own mind buying leather shoes were ok, but buying something that I thought was pony hair, which is actually in essence leather wasn't ok?
I think in my mind I made it ok to purchase leather shoes as leather was a byproduct of the meat industry and I never fully related the word 'leather' to a living creature as in our society it has no relevant link to the name of the animal it was coming from 'Cow', 'Pig', 'Sheep', so it was almost like I forgot that leather came from animals!

I read through some further posts on the PETA website about Fur and Leather in shoes and clothing and their articles are horrific to say the least. But extremely informative. From what I can gather, PETA are not a group of vegans that say don't eat meat (although they do have many articles on how living a vegan lifestyle is healthier), they are more about the ethical treatment of the animals used for clothing and food in slaughter houses etc.

How do you avoid buying shoes and clothing from animal sources? Or are you like me and didn't relate leather to being an animal so never thought about it?

I guess if we continue to buy animal based products, all we can hope for is that the animal was killed in the most humane way possible and skinned as a direct result of being slaughtered for the meat in the first instance.

What are your thoughts?

Grace xo