Activists in 20 Cities Protest Adidas Over Kangaroo Slaughter
The News
On December 2nd and 3rd, hundreds of animal rights activists in 20 cities staged protests at Adidas stores in support of a global effort to compel the sportswear company to stop using kangaroo skin in its soccer cleats. Australia’s Animal Justice Party, which is advocating for a ban on kangaroo slaughter in the Parliament, organized the global day of action in support of the Center for a Humane Economy’s “Kangaroos are Not Shoes” campaign. Advocacy groups staged protests in Australia, Canada, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States.
“Adidas states that it opposes the inhumane slaughter of kangaroos, but bludgeoning and orphaning a half-a-million joeys every year is the antithesis of humane,” said Jennifer Skiff, campaign director at the Center for a Humane Economy. “The global protest was a call on Adidas to uphold its pledge to operate humanely.“
Adidas claims that the leather used in its soccer cleats is sourced from kangaroos who are slaughtered humanely. The Center for a Humane Economy has provided the company with evidence demonstrating otherwise.
During the protests, participants read an Animal Justice Party manifesto decrying Adidas’s support of the kangaroo hunt: “Adidas, you have the power to change, to be on the right side of history. We are watching. The world is watching. We will hold you to account, and we will keep coming back until you stop killing kangaroos.”
@centerforahumaneeconomy @adidas we are watching. The world is watching. kangaroosarenotshoes
♬ original sound – centerforahumaneeconomy – centerforahumaneeconomy
According to the Center for a Humane Economy, the nightly kangaroo hunt represents the largest slaughter of land-based wildlife in the world. Because Adidas is the only large shoe manufacturer still using kangaroo leather, the company is the primary target of animal rights groups.
During a protest at the Adidas store in Sydney, Australia, the Animal Justice Party called on the company to stop killing kangaroos to make soccer cleats
“Animals inhabit this planet with us, not for us,” said Edita Birnkrant, the Executive Director of NYCLASS, an organizer of the NYC protest. “When we learned that Adidas was paying hunters to slaughter kangaroos and steal their skin, advocates in New York wanted to join the global fight to protect them.”
Inspired by protests in Australia and the U.S., #AnimalRights activists in Germany have joined the global campaign to compel sportswear giant @adidas (which is based in Germany) to stop making football cleats out of kangaroo skin: https://t.co/0goS5N1NGS #KangaroosAreNotShoes pic.twitter.com/3YysTs1Euc
— Animal Rights News (@theirturn) October 26, 2023
“Our request is simple, and it’s fair,” said Donny Moss of TheirTurn.net, an organizer of the NYC protest. “We’re asking that Adidas join Nike, Puma, Diadora and New Balance in switching from kangaroo skin to cruelty-free materials, which are readily available to the company. With one call to his product development team, Adidas’s CEO Bjørn Gulden could put the wheels in motion to make this ethical upgrade.”
During protests in Europe, Australia and the United States, animal rights activists called on Adidas to stop making soccer cleats out of kangaroo skin
In July, 2023, Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick re-introduced the Kangaroo Protection Act. If passed, the law would ban the importation and sale of kangaroo products in the United States. The state of California banned the import and sale of products made from kangaroos in 1971. In 2023, NY State Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal introduced similar legislation.
@theirturn See how #adidas customers, employees and the NYPD react to #kangaroosarenotshoes protest.
The Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Justice Party assert that the #KangaroosAreNotShoes campaign, which is growing in size, scope and strength, will ultimately compel Adidas to replace “k-leather” with a cruelty-free alternative.
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