Vegetarians could boycott buses in the Black Country over new luxury leather seats.
The Vegetarian Society is angry at a decision by National Express West Midlands to equip its new buses with leather seats in a bid to entice drivers to leave their cars in favour of public transport.
The company has said it is trying to do more to offer a good quality of service to passengers as well as buses that run on time.
But the society say the move causes unnecessary suffering to animals as synthetic coverings on seats would be cheaper and just as comfortable.
National Express West Midlands corporate affairs director Phil Bateman confirmed a complaint had been received from a vegetarian concerning the leather seats. He said: “We carry one over one million passengers every day and have had one complaint, which is unfortunate, but must be taken in context.
“But when you are running a public transport company you have to break the mould and that is what we are doing.
“Leather seated buses make up only a tiny proportion of our fleet. We are trying to offer our passengers the best quality of service.”
Caroline Chisholm, head of communications at the Vegetarian Society, said: “Vegetarians are not just people who do not eat meat. Many take it further and do not use any products containing animal fats or gelatines and do not wear leather clothes or use goods made from animal skins.
“I am sure that most commuters would be happy for a bus to be value for money without using the most expensive luxury options.
“People would rather services were prompt without the need for more animals to suffer. It is, of course, up to the company to decide whether or not to pursue this and ultimately the consumers will decide what they think of this, but we would urge them to consider the welfare of animals.”
New buses bearing the National Express West Midlands logo will be rolled out this month and will replace the decades old Travel West Midlands brand.
21 Comments
Surely making more bus routes where they are needed, running them on time and keeping them clean is more of an enticement than making the chairs out of leather! Priorities all wrong.
VEGGIES GROW UP.AS FOR THE LEATHER SEATS I DON’T THINK THEY WILL LAST LONG WITH THE YOBS WHO PACK THE BACK OF THE BUSES.
good let the vegs get the onion ring and ride,more room for us carnivores eating our lovely pork sandwiches
plus what do they expect us to sit on bean bags.
this does sound nice a brand new bus with leather seats but i doubt it will be on all routes i see the 529 route get the 997 style buses and other buses routes gettin nicer buses but the 394 route appears to just get the old tin buses hope we on the 394 will be included in the new bus routes hope the cctv is on it.
I hope the company used the local leather industry in Walsall !!!
Do any of the veggies complaining wear leather shoes or belts?
You will find that there is always somebody complaining about something!!To bad it isn’t about something worthwhile…like..the tag in the back of my Tshirt is scrachy or leftover pizza doesn’t reheat well in the micowave[it turns out to soggy]..Thats the real issues we face today.COME ON GET A GRIP PEOPLE!!!!!!
How pathetic ! Still more room for everyone else
leather is a byproduct of the meat trade so technically this is recycling let the veggies look which seats turn up and if they dont like them they can wait for the next one and hope its cloth seats covered in gum and graffitti
It’s understandable that a person who refuses to eat meat should not want to sit on a leather seat. No problem, they can stand and leave the seat free for a pensioner.
How stupid, what idiotic shirt and tie thought of this then. Pity they didnt think some more and realise the cost in replacing the leather when the school kids are let loose, they could have thought more about how to run the buses on bio diesel as its cheaper and smells better coming out the other end.
Still, never mind its only fare paying passengers that will have to fork out more to pay the repair bills.
Synthetic seats are made from plastics. These are potentially polluting and as they are oil derived are also more likely to be from a war zone. I share peoples doubts that the low life who inhabit our towns will be able to resist the temptation to slash these new seats. Personally I wouldn’t put leather seats in any bus but not for the reasons the vegetarians give.
Vegetables are living organisms too. Just because they’re not fluffy with cute doey eyes, nobody cares
Save the humble sprout! Eat meat….
….On the bus.
Vegetarian Society !!!!
this is the best one yet, i almost peeeeeed myself
I rather the bus had a security guard in instead.
I’d prefer the buses to be cleaned once in a while than to have leather seats. Surely fabric is cheaper than leather? It’s already expensive to get a short bus journey. I wonder if the prices will rise again to cover the cost of fitting leather on the buses.
Where’s Blakey when you need him?
These Do_Gooders are everywhere, they spread like an infection. I wonder if any of them refuse to get into a car that has Leather seats, bet they never give it a second thought
Put wooden benches in for the vegans, but then we will have the tree huggers moaning,
you cannot win.
The meat eaters seem more upset and agressive than the veggies. Maybe they should steer clear of all that red meat!!!!!
Hey guys! I’m a veggie but I have no desire to shove it down your necks haha but i gotta say to veggie complainer - plastic seats are non biodegradable - so lets save the planet first hun hey? Thats more important right now, and some humans will always eat meat because they like and they can - just like we dont like it and we dont want to eat it! Freedom of choice - enjoy it while we still have it! haha Oh and I bet those seats dont last long!
rather than replacing leather seats old ones could be repaired or renovated, this would keep both the greens and the veggies happy but also mean that passengers get a comfortable seat. A company like Renovate Leather based in the Telford and Birmingham areas can repair leather that has been cut or worn back to an original like finish. This is a cost effective option where everyone wins