By IANSlife

New Delhi, Dec 8 (IANSlife): People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India awarded Monica Shah and Karishma Swali of JADE with a Compassionate Designer Award each in honour of the duo's dedication to not using leather. The PETA India Humanitarian Award went to Maharashtra Additional Director General of Police IPS Dr. Ravinder Singal for promoting dog adoption, combating animal cruelty, leading a campaign to feed neighbourhood animals during the pandemic, and assisting with a raid on a notorious wildlife smuggler in Nashik. Vedanta teacher Acharya Prashant received the PETA India Most Influential Vegan Award for promoting veganism.

This year, JADE, debuted its first vegan accessories collection, "Made for Love." The line of high-end accessories is created without the use of any ingredients derived from animals, is vegan and cruelty-free, and is PETA-certified.

"JADE is testimony to the fact that true luxury means respecting animals and the planet," says PETA India Manager of Fashion, Media and Celebrity Projects, Monica Chopra. "PETA India is delighted to recognise Monica Shah and Karishma Swali for showing compassion is always in fashion."

Each year, the world's leather business murders millions of delicate, intellectual animals in addition to more than 1.4 billion cows, goats, and sheep. In India, animals that are used for leather are frequently crowded into vans in such a way that many suffer severe injuries or pass away en route. Then, they are hauled into slaughterhouses where, on faeces, blood, intestines, and urine-stained floors, they are sliced open in plain sight of one another.

Leather is the most polluting material in fashion, according to a "Pulse of the Fashion Industry" research released by the Global Fashion Agenda in association with the Boston Consulting Group.

Indian tannery workers put through long hours for pitiful pay while being subjected to dangerous working conditions and toxins. 90 percent of the leather in the world is treated with chromium, which has been linked to lung, bladder, pancreatic, renal, testicular, and skin cancers as well as ulcers, damage to the nasal septum, dermatitis, and respiratory ailments. According to the World Health Organization, exposure to harmful chemicals at tanneries causes 90 percent of leather workers in a region of Bangladesh that is used for leather tanning to pass away before the age of 50.