To his credit, John Fluevog is known by many as the premier footwear designer for discerning tastes. To the disdain of cows the world over, Mr. Fluevog is a leather-hungry barbarian. With ten-plus years of animal rights advocacy under my faux-leather belt, I wrote to our friend Mr. Fluevog to sincerely, emphatically (and humorously) express my wishes that he produce some cruelty-free footwear.

Response number 1 came as a disappointment about a week ago. It was the verbatim text lifted from the company's website FAQ page, where it is an answer to the question: Do you make non-leather vegetarian styles? Frankly, after all the work and care I put into crafting that letter (which I would reproduce here if I hadn't deleted it*), I was more than a little disappointed.

Response number 2 came today. I share it here:

> -----Original Message----- > From: John Fluevog [mailto:johnf@fluevog.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 3:46 PM
> To: jlarson@u.arizona.edu
> Subject: will fluevog listen with ears like a cow?
>
> Jeff
>
> To date yours has prob. been the most compelling
> vegan message.. It got to me!.. but that is not
> to say I will stop my evil ways and repent.
> (at least not right now)
>
> just what would Jesus do?
>
> i'm thk'n fish skin's?
>
> I hv done non leather in the distant past .. and
> they did not work...BUT.. I am on to something
> again.. (not fish skins)..so we will see
>
> thanks for the interest and thinking of me.. and
> i am thk'n about about what u said.
>
> John Fluevog
>
>
> The Fluevog's wearer is generally nice and can be
> trusted slightly more than others

This is a window of opportunity. I'd love to see a flood of comments find their way to JF's desk! Begin, as I did, here.

* Suffice it to say, my comment was clever, hilarious, and heart-wrenching.

This entry was posted by Jeff, on Wednesday, February 16, 2005. You can leave your response.