Lawmakers are taking a stand against harming kangaroos! Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., two United States representatives, introduced the Kangaroo Protection Act in February. The act would ban the sale of kangaroo body parts.
Nike, Adidas, Puma, and other companies trade in kangaroo skins to manufacture soccer shoes and cleats. Second to the European Union, the U.S. purchases a significant fraction of kangaroo parts.
Groups including Animal Wellness Action, Animal Wellness Foundation, Center for a Humane Economy and SPCA International, the Michelson Center for Public Policy, and others applaud the efforts to ban the sale.
“Commercial shooters kill roughly two million wild kangaroos a year to profit from the trade in their skins, despite the availability of alternative fabrics that are of similar or better quality. While California has banned the sale of kangaroo products, enforcement of this inhumane practice is lacking,” said Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif. “I’m proud to stand against kangaroo trafficking and have introduced the Kangaroo Protection Act to make it illegal to exploit kangaroos in the United States and impose penalties for violations.”
California also banned the selling and importing of products made with kangaroo skin, but a recent investigation by the Center for a Humane Economy that Nike, Puma, and multiple other companies have not complied with this ban. They have been illegally selling kangaroo skin sports shoes without facing any repercussions. The market for these shoes has supported the killing of around two million kangaroos every year as a large majority of retailers have sold shoes that violate this ban for years. The Center for a Humane Economy is calling for a crackdown on this illegal trade to protect Australia’s precious marsupials. In partnership with Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy launched an awareness campaign called “Kangaroos are not Shoes.”
“Nike and other major athletic shoe companies are fueling the world’s largest commercial slaughter of terrestrial wildlife,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “It’s time for the company to shed kangaroo skins from its product lines and embrace 21st-century sensibilities about wildlife protection.”
Sign this petition if you want Nike and Puma to do the right thing and abide by California law! Tell them to stop selling kangaroo leather products in the state, and commit to phasing out the use of kangaroo leather company-wide!
This article was first published by OneGreenPlanet on 11 February 2021. Lead Image Source: Alex Godoy Photography/ Shutterstock.com.
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