The other day, I was watching an old episode of Dirty Jobs that dealt with the topic of animal rendering. This particular episode discussed the process of what happens to a cow that dies of natural causes. If you own a leather handbag, a pair of leather boots or other leather goods, you might want to continue reading. Rendering is the process by which all parts of an animal are used for some purpose. If you ever wonder where leather comes from, you might want to consider a rendered animal. In the episode, cows are depicted with nearly every inch of their hides covered with maggots and flies. During the rendering process, the hide is stripped from the animal and later covered in salt for the sake of preservation until a company decides to purchase it. Because these are animals that died naturally, the leather tends to go for a lower price. This begs the question: is there a difference between rendered leather and non-rendered leather? Are you okay with the idea of owning leather goods that originate from rendered animals?
