Minoru Matthews August 1, 2018

Vice President, PETA His Holiness Pope Francis

Vatican City State. 00120
501 Front St. Italy
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-622-PETA Dear Pope Francis,
(7382)
On behalf of PETA and our members and supporters worldwide, many of whom have always admired
Info@peta.org
your kindness towards animals, I am writing you to speak out against bibles that have been bound by
leather. We have read your kind words about animals that have been abused in factory farms and we
couldn’t agree more with your statement that “animals too, are god’s creatures.” Knowing your love for
animals, it is disheartening to think that your followers will be supporting horrific animal abuse by
purchasing leather bound bibles.

You may not know that animals that are killed for their skins also suffer the horrors of factory farming,
which include extreme crowding and being confined to small quarters, deprivation, castration without
painkillers, branding, and cruel treatment during transport and slaughter. Most leather comes from India or
China, where animal welfare laws are either nonexistent or not enforced.

We know that cats hold a special place in your heart, so I’m sure it will shock you to learn that some
leather imported from China is made from the skins of domestic cats who have been round up from the
streets and killed. These skins are deliberately mislabeled and sold to unsuspected customers in Europe
and other countries. Unfortunately, without the use of DNA testing, it’s impossible to know if a leather
bible or any other leather item- was made from a calf or a cat. Of course, it is cruel and unnecessary either
way and we are sure you agree that all animals- cats or cows deserve protection from the suffering that
comes with the production of leather.

Not only is buying leather cruel, it violates the Catholic Catechism, which states that humans owe animals
kindness and that’s “contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or to die needlessly.” Especially
since there are many alternatives to leather today, killing animals for their skins is not a necessity but a
vanity.

My questions to you regarding this issue are the following:

1) What do you believe regarding the use of leather in bibles?
2) What are some things you can do to speak out against animal abuse in India and China regarding
leather production?
3) What are some ways you can help reach other Catholics to understand where leather used in the
bibles come from and why they should only purchase non leather bibles?

In the past, you have spoken often and earnestly about the exploitation of animals and we hope you do so
again by urging Roman Catholics to purchase only non-leather bibles. Thank you so much for your time
and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Minoru Matthews
Vice President of Communications
Subject: Usability test results for cat adoption directions

From: Minoru Matthews, Virtual Customer Service Agent minoru@adoptapet.com

To: Melanie Strickland, Virtual Customer Service Manager melanie@adoptapet.com

Dear Mrs. Strickland,

I hope you are doing well. Last week, I have completed a draft of directions to be used on our website
on how to adopt a cat online on our website and I performed a usability test with a focus group on
Thursday. I am writing to you today to inform you that the usability test results for have just come in.

Unfortunately, it is not good news; according to the usability test results, there is a lot of work to be
done before the instructions are ready to be published on the website. This is a disappointment and I
apologize in advance for the delay.

In regards to the usability results, there is some good news. All the testers thought the steps in the
directions that were present were succinct, concise, and easy to understand. However, a lot of the
testers have found that some of our steps are missing, in particular we neglected to include the
instruction for the user to select the age and gender of the cat they are interested in. The testers have
also stated that our directions page is lacking visual appeal in that it needs more color. Additionally, the
testers have stated that our directions needs screenshots to make the directions more clear. While I am
disappointed with the results, I have been working on a solution to this over the weekend and I wanted
to see what you think.

Based on the results, I have decided to make the following changes; first I will add the steps for the users
on our website to select the age and gender selections for their cat search. I will also add a step to hit
search, and a step that explains the purpose of the pet alert that appears after hitting search but before
the search results are displayed. That step will explain that signing up for the pet alert to receive emails
from us about possible matches is optional. These changes should improve the clarity and the accuracy
of the instructions for the users. I have also decided to add some screenshots for the instructions to
make the document more visually appealing.

I have attached the document below for your review. Please take a look at this updated set of the
directions that I have written at your earliest convenience.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and I look forward to hearing your reply.

Sincerely,

Minoru Matthews