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Anti-Kangaroo Leather Activists Disrupt Adidas Launch Party

March 11, 2024 by Leave a Comment


The News

As part of a global “Kangaroos Are Not Shoes” Campaign, animal rights activists in New York City disrupted a launch party hosted by Major League Soccer (MLS) at the Adidas flagship store. During the protest, the activists called on the Chairman of the Board of Adidas, Thomas Rabe, to join Nike, Puma and New Balance in making the switch from “k-leather” to cruelty-free materials.

The Center for a Humane Economy, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, launched the #KangaroosAreNotShoes campaign in 2021 in an effort to protect kangaroos from the egregious abuses associated with commercial kangaroo skin trade and to curb the largest slaughter of land-based wildlife on the planet. In 2023, the Center and its partner organization, Animal Wellness Action, turned their attention to Adidas, the largest of the few remaining companies that produce soccer cleats using kangaroo skin.

Photo of Kangaroos Are Not Shoes campaign

In 2021, the Center for a Humane Economy launched the Kangaroos Are Not Shoes campaign to compel sportswear companies to stop using kangaroo skin in their soccer cleats

In a “Standards on Animal-derived Materials” statement on its website, Adidas claims to source skin from animals who are “free from fear, distress, pain and injury,” and Adidas executives, including the company’s sustainability chief Frank Henke, use that statement to defend the company’s continued support of the commercial kangaroo hunt.

Photo of Adidas standards on animal-derived materials

Adidas claims that the animals whose skin they use are “free from physical discomfort, pain and injury”

Representatives from Australia’s Animal Justice Party, which closely monitors the kangaroo hunt, dispute these “false” claims. In a letter to the board chairman Thomas Rabe, Louise Ward, the New South Wales State Director, wrote:

Photo of a an excerpt of a letter from the Animal Justice to Thomas Rabe, the CEO of Bertelsmann

Excerpt from a letter from the Animal Justice Party to Thomas Rabe, the Chairman of the Board of Adidas

In addition to serving as the Chairman of the Board of Adidas, Thomas Rabe is the CEO of Bertelsmann, a global media empire that owns the publisher Penguin Random House; the music producer BMG; and the RTL Group, an entertainment company with dozens of media outlets. Rabe has not responded to letters in which the Center for a Humane Economy and the Animal Justice Party ask him for a meeting to discuss the use of kangaroo skin and Adidas’s claims made about how it’s sourced.

Photo of Thomas Rabe and joeys orphaned by the commercial kangaroo skin trade

Animal protection groups are calling on Thomas Rabe, the Chairman of the Board of Adidas, to stop using kangaroo skin. Rabe is the CEO of the global media giant Bertelsmann

The commercial kangaroo skin trade orphans an estimated 300,000 joeys each year. Government code mandates that hunters bludgeon or decapitate the joeys, who cannot survive without their mothers. Those who do escape die of predation, exposure or hunger.

Activist groups in Australia, Europe, Canada and the United States have been protesting Adidas for the past year. Several have decided to escalate the campaign by protest Thomas Rabe at Bertelsmann offices in the U.S. and Germany.

Compilation photo of kangaroos are not shoes protests

Emma Hurst, a member of Parliament in Australia, addresses activists participating in a #KangaroosAreNotShoes protest at Adidas in Sydney

In February, 2024, TheirTurn launched a campaign calling on Thomas Rabe to make the switch from kangaroo skin to cruelty-free materials. To date, 173 people have sent a total of 2,453 emails to Rabe and his colleagues at Adidas and Bertelsmann.

Photo of petition calling on Adidas Board Chair Thomas Rabe to stop killing kangaroos for football cleats

Petition calling on Thomas Rabe, the Chairman of the Board of Adidas, to replace kangaroo skin with cruelty-free materials


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NYPD Arrests Spouse of Marc Jacobs VP during Anti-Fur Protest

March 2, 2024 by Leave a Comment


The News

The NYPD arrested the husband of Jennifer Sagum, a Vice President at Marc Jacobs, after he stole an iPhone from an animal rights activist during an anti-fur protest in front of the couple’s Brooklyn brownstone. Brian Moss, a partner at Coventry Real Estate Advisors, was charged with grand larceny, a felony.

Photo of Brian Moss, husband of Marc Jacob's VP Jennifer Sagum

Brian Moss, the husband of Marc Jacobs VP Jennifer Sagum, was arrested and charged with grand larceny after stealing the phone of an anti-fur activist during a protest at the couple’s Brooklyn home.

In an effort to resolve the conflict without making an arrest, the NYPD officer handling the theft made an appeal to the activist whose phone Moss stole. “He’s a professional. Honestly, he’s deathly afraid of being arrested and it affecting his career.” Moss works in financial services, an industry that is required under federal law to ban individuals convicted of felonies.

In response, the victim agreed to not press charges if Moss returned the phone. By then, however, it was too late. According to witnesses, Moss’s wife, Jennifer Sagum, had thrown the iPhone into a nearby sewer drain and could not retrieve it. After initially telling the police officer that he returned the iPhone to the activists, Moss acknowledged that he no longer had the phone in his possession.

Photo of Marc Jacobs VP Jennifer Sagum and her husband Brian Moss

During an anti-fur protest at the Brooklyn home of Marc Jacobs VP Jennifer Sagum and her husband Brian Moss, Sagum tossed the iPhone of a protester in a sewer drain after Moss grabbed it.

The theft of the phone and Moss’s subsequent arrest were not, according to the activists, the most dramatic moments of the two hour protest.  Before he was arrested, Moss dragged his young, visibly terrified daughter out of their house and down the front steps. According to the activists, he appeared to be using the presence of a child to demand that the activists terminate the protest.

Photo of Brian Moss, husband of Marc Jacobs VP Jennifer Sagum

Brian Moss dragged his daughter down the stairs while confronting anti-fur protesters at his Brooklyn home.

The protest was organized by animal rights activists in NYC in support of a national anti-fur campaign led by the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT), an organization whose campaigns have contributed to fur-free policies at several luxury fashion companies.

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Marc Jacobs is one of the few fashion designers that continues to use real animal fur. For years, advocacy groups have pled with him to switch to cruelty-free materials, as most other designers have done in recent years.

Photo of Marc Jacobs and his public statement about his use of fur

Fashion designer Marc Jacobs has refused to commit to a fur-free policy

In 2022, Jacobs told animal rights activists that he was no longer using fur, but, during a 2023 runway show staged in collaboration with Fendi, he featured a fox fur hat.

Photo of Marc Jacobs and a fox fur hat he designed

After telling animal rights activists that he was no longer designing with fur, Marc Jacobs showed a fox fur hat during a runway show

“On fur farms, wild animals suffer from the moment they are born until the moment they die,” said Tyler Bauer, an organizer with CAFT USA. “The animals spend their entire lives trapped in tiny wire cages, crammed by the thousands into squalid sheds, unable to take more than a few steps in any direction. This abuse of  fur-bearing animals must end.”

Photo of fur-bearing animals in cages on fur farms

Foxes, raccoon dogs, rabbits, chinchillas and other animals killed for their fur go insane from the lifelong intensive confinement in cages.

CAFT organizers say the nighttime protest at the home of Ms. Sagum represents an escalation of their efforts because the more measured tactics employed in the past have been unsuccessful in compelling Mr. Jacobs to implement a fur-free policy.

Photo of petition calling on Marc Jacobs to adopt a fur-free policy

Petition calling on Marc Jacobs to adopt a fur-free policy


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Activists in 20 Cities Protest Adidas Over Kangaroo Slaughter

December 8, 2023 by Leave a Comment


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.“

Photo of commercial kangaroo hunt and Adidas soccer cleat made from kangaroo skin

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.

Photo of 80 animal rights activists protesting Adidas in Sydney, Australia

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.”

“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.”

Photo of article in Yahoo News about the kangaroo skin protests at Adidas stores in Europe, Australia and the United States

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.

♬ original sound – Donny Moss

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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‘Kangaroos Are Not Shoes’ Campaign Reaches Adidas’s Backyard in Germany

October 26, 2023 by Leave a Comment


The News

Inspired by protests in the United States and Australia, animal rights 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. In the past two months, activists with Their Skin Hamburg have conducted six protests in Hamburg and Frankfurt.

“Adidas claims to source its materials in a humane manner, but the unnecessarily killing, traumatizing and bludgeoning defenseless kangaroos is cowardly, cruel and unbecoming of a brand that has the financial means to switch to synthetic, cruelty-free materials,” said Pantalaimon Sander of Their Skin Hamburg.We will continue to protest Adidas in its own backyard until the company announces an end to its use of kangaroo skin.”

Photo of Emma Hurst, Donny Moss and James Cromwell protesting at Adidas stores

Animal rights activists, including Australian Member of Parliament Emma Hurst and American actor James Cromwell, protest at Adidas over the company’s refusal to stop killing kangaroos to make football cleats.

In early 2022, the Center for a Humane Economy launched the Kangaroos Are Not Shoes campaign to help put a stop to the world’s largest commercial slaughter of land-based wildlife. Since then, the organization has worked with state and federal lawmakers in the United States to introduced bills that would ban the sale of kangaroo parts.

Photo of Kangaroos Are Not Shoes Campaign

In 2022, the Center for a Humane Economy launched the Kangaroos Are Not Shoes Campaign to curb the slaughter of wild kangaroos in Australia.

As part of the campaign, the Center for a Humane Economy has called on the largest football cleat manufacturers to switch from “k-leather” to cruelty-free materials. With Nike, Puma and New Balance announcing a kangaroo-free policies in 2023, Adidas becomes the last multinational sportswear company to continue using kangaroo skin.

Despite the growth of the #KangaroosAreNotShoes campaign, Adidas has made no indication that it plans to stop using kangaroo skin. In a recent letter to the Center for a Humane Economy, Adidas’s Senior Vice President of Sustainability Policy & Engagement, Frank Henke, defended the company’s decision, claiming that kangaroo slaughter is humane: “Adidas is opposed to kangaroos being killed in an inhumane or cruel manner…. Licensed operators must comply with a stringent code of practice which controls how they operate.”

Photo of Frank Henke, Senior VP of Adidas

Frank Henke, the Senior Vice President of Sustainability Policy & Engagement at Adidas, claims that his company “is opposed to kangaroos being killed in an inhumane or cruel manner,” yet Adidas continues to sell kangaroo skin football cleats despite the well documented proof that the kangaroo hunt is inhumane.

In response, the Center for a Humane Economy’s President, Wayne Pacelle, argued that the hunt is inherently inhumane: “The shoots result in the orphaning and killing of 300,000 – 500,000 joeys a year. In whose estimation could orphaning—resulting in either starvation or bludgeoning of the newborns—be considered humane? Assurances from the industry and the Australian government, relating to humane’ and sustainable’ practices associated with the hunt, are without any merit when one considers the all-consuming fear and suffering endured by the juveniles — first watching their mothers die, and then expiring in short order without maternal care. To simply say that the kill is regulated is an act of faith, not a matter of animal welfare science. Nor does it meet any kind of common-sense understanding of whats happening in the field in Australia.”

Photo of Adidas's policy surrounding the use of animals in their products

Despite the well documented cruelty associated with the commercial kangaroo hunt, Adidas claims to be opposed to kangaroos being killed in an inhumane or cruel manner.

As the Center for a Humane Economy attempts to reason with Adidas in the boardroom, grassroots organizers have pledged to continue confronting the company at its retail stores in the United States, Europe and Australia. Animal rights activists in the U.S. are also planning additional protests at Dick’s Sporting Goods, the country’s largest retail distributor of kangaroo skin cleats. That effort, dubbed #DontBeADicks, began with a disruption inside of a Dick’s store in New York City.


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Animal Rights Activists Protest Kangaroo Leather In Dick’s Sporting Goods

September 18, 2023 by Leave a Comment


The News

As part of the global “Kangaroos are Not Shoes” campaign led by The Center for a Humane Economy, over 20 animal rights activists disrupted business inside of a Dick’s Sporting Goods, the country’s largest retail distributor of kangaroo-leather shoes.  While inside the store, the activists called shoppers’ attention to the “k-leather” soccer cleats on display and staged a die-in in the footwear department. After approximately 15 minutes, NYPD officers removed the protesters from the store. The protest continued on the sidewalk out front, where the activists educated Dick’s customers about k-leather and the large-scale commercial slaughter of wild kangaroos.

“Dick’s Sporting Goods claims to be ‘responsible stewards of the planet’, but trafficking in wildlife parts after fires wiped out hundreds of millions of Australian animals is the epitome of irresponsibility and greed,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of The Center for a Humane Economy, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group. “Dick’s should join Nike and Puma in pledging to stop selling products made from kangaroo skin.”

Photo of animal rights activists in NYC protesting inside of a Dick's Sporting Goods

Animal rights activists in NYC disrupt business inside of a Dick’s Sporting Goods store over the company’s refusal to stop selling kangaroo skin soccer cleats.

The protest at Dick’s took place just days after Hollywood actor James Cromwell staged a similar protest inside of an Adidas store in Soho, an upscale shopping district in Manhattan. As shoppers took out their mobile phone to record Cromwell, the Babe and Succession star urged them to make kinder choices, “Kangaroos are not shoes; they’re animals,” he said before chanting “Just Stop the Slaughter” while exiting the store with other animal rights activists.

Commercial hunters hired by soccer cleat manufacturers, like Adidas, kill approximately two million kangaroos each year, though that number will decline now that Nike and Puma have pledged to replace kangaroo leather with cruelty-free materials. The Center for a Humane Economy describes the kangaroo hunt as “the largest commercial slaughter of land-based mammals on the planet.” An estimated 40% of kangaroos are shot in the neck or body instead of the head, which often wounds the kangaroos instead of instantly killing them. Those who escape the hunters die slowly from their gunshot wounds or starvation. 

Photo of kangaroo leather soccer cleat sold by Dick's Sporting Goods

Dick’s Sporting Goods is the nation’s largest retail distributor of kangaroo skin soccer cleats

Some of the females who are shot have babies, or joeys, in their pouches or by their sides. Government guidelines dictate that hunters either decapitate or bludgeon the joeys to death. The joeys who are not in their mother’s pouch and escape from the hunters die from exposure and predation. Joeys have been documented returning to the site where their mothers are killed and standing next to the body parts that the hunters left behind. Each year, an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 joeys fall victim to the nightly kangaroo hunt.

Animal rights groups in Australia, which are especially protective of their native kangaroos, have staged kangaroo leather protests in several cities across the country. In recent months, European advocacy groups have also begun protesting kangaroo leather at an Adidas store in Germany, where the company is based.

Photo of Australian Member of Parliament Emma Hurst at a kangaroo leather protest

Emma Hurst, a Member of Australia’s Parliament, speaks to advocates during a kangaroo leather protest.

“Chasing down terrified kangaroos in the dark of night and stealing their skin to make soccer cleats is among the worst wildlife crimes on the planet,” said Edita Birnkrant, executive director of NYCLASS, a NYC-based animal rights organization. “Dick’s knows that the shoes on their shelves are a product of extreme cruelty and is prioritizing profits ahead of decency.”

Photos of animal rights activists protesting Dick's over its refusal to stop selling kangaroo leather soccer cleats

Animal rights activist protest inside of a Dick’s Sporting Goods in NYC over the company’s refusal to stop selling kangaroo skin soccer cleats.

In 2023, U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill that would ban the sale of any kangaroo parts. If passed, the Kangaroo Protection Act would close off one of the world’s largest markets for kangaroo parts and dramatically curb the commercial slaughter of kangaroos.


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