Kangaroo populations are dwindling across Australia. Hunters aren’t concerned about this and ruthlessly slaughter kangaroos and their babies for their skins. Athletic shoes for mega-companies are then made from this cruelty. Please urge your U.S. representative to immediately support the Kangaroo Protection Act to ban the sale of kangaroo products nationwide!
Last July, the Kangaroo Protection Act (H.R 4995) was introduced by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Jan Schakowsky, which would prohibit certain activities involving kangaroos and kangaroo products, and ban the sale of kangaroo parts in the U.S.. The bill was initiated just months after Puma and Nike made announcements that they would stop further sourcing kangaroo skins for their soccer shoes.
An estimated 1 million kangaroos are brutally slaughtered each year, and their skins are used to create leather for products like shoes, and that number doesn’t include kangaroo babies, known as joeys. This horrific industry leaves many thousands of joeys to starve to death after their mothers are killed, or they are killed by having their necks broken, being decapitated, or bludgeoned.
While several companies have stopped using kangaroo leather, including Nike and Puma, the U.S. is the second largest market. The Kangaroo Protection Act would cut off the U.S. market in Australia that provides kangaroo leather to global athletic shoe companies, weakening the supply-and-demand relationship that has been driving the slaughter.