As animal rights activists protested a Professional Bull Riding (PBR) event at NYC’s Madison Square Garden (MSG), fans heading inside greeted them with obscenities, remarks about eating meat and nervous smiles. The reactions came as no surprise to the activists, who have protested year-after-year in an effort to educate the public about the cruelty associated with bull riding.
“Bulls don’t naturally buck,” said Nora Constance Marino, an attorney who organizes the annual PBR protest at Madison Square Garden. “The bull riders use cruel methods to provoke them that may include shocking them with electric prods, jabbing them with spurs, squeezing them with flank straps and twisting their tails. Everything about this so-called sport is inhumane.”
Bull riders use weapons including electric prods, spurs and flank straps to provoke bulls into bucking
While most of the PBR patrons ignored the protesters, several stopped to say that they had misgivings about attending. Some agreed that bull riding is inhumane, and others said they came only because they received free tickets.
Watch bull riding fans clash with #animalrights activists protesting the Professional Bull Riding (PBR) show at Madison Square Garden. A few of PBR’s corporate sponsors are tagged. #animalcruelty#bullrider
A few patrons defended the “sport,” stating that the “bulls are treated better than people.” After speaking to Edita Birnkrant, a protester who said that some of the bulls are injured and killed, one devoted PBR fan acknowledged that she could be correct. “It’s possible,” he said.
PBR transports bulls around the country in trailers and stores them in holding pens at bull riding arenas
For years, activists in NYC have called on the management at MSG to stop hosting the PBR. In 2019 and early 2020, before the pandemic, the Animal Cruelty Exposure Fund (ACEF), Marino’s organization, staged protests at the Upper East Side home of then MSG Sports President Andrew Lustgarten. His neighbors told the activists that they suspect the protests led him to move out of the building.
Animal rights activists in NYC protest bull riding at Madison Square Garden
According to PETA, animals used in rodeo events, including bull riding, “commonly sustain broken bones, punctured lungs, snapped necks, or torn muscles, and they sometimes die in an arena.”
Cruelty to animals violates the corporate social responsibility policies espoused by many of the PBR’s sponsors, but that doesn’t stop them from underwriting the bull riding tour.
Virginia Chipurnoi is the President of the Board of the Humane Society of New York (HSNY), a large and well-funded animal shelter in Manhattan that has come under fire in recent years for warehousing animals. Until 2020, Chipurnoi not only served on the board, but she also volunteered at the shelter four days per week. Her presence helped to ensure that the Executive Director, Sandra DeFeo, and her staff were fulfilling the shelter’s mission to place animals into loving homes.
When COVID shut down the city, Chipurnoi, who is 89 years old, left New York. Former colleagues, who say she was showing signs of dementia in 2019, suspect that she moved to her weekend home in Connecticut, where her family owns a confectionary company called Chipurnoi Candy.
Virginia Chipurnoi, the once active board president of the Humane Society of New York, has been silent amid the four year animal warehousing scandal
In July 2021, whistleblowers at the HSNY informed NYC-based animal advocates that adoptions had come to a virtual standstill 17 months earlier; that many of the animals had been living in cages for months or years; and that the Adoption Center was closed indefinitely to adopters. Several advocates who had a relationship with Chipurnoi attempted to contact her because they knew that she would address the warehousing of animals if she knew it was taking place. Chipurnoi did not respond, and, in 2022, her phone was disconnected.
Pix11, a TV news station in New York, aired a three minute story about the animal warehousing controversy at the Humane Society of New York (click photo to see Pix11 story)
Reporters from Pix11 News, AM New York, NBC and Huffington Post working on stories about the warehousing scandal also attempted to contact Chipurnoi through Chipurnoi Candy, but company representatives indicated that she was unavailable and unreachable.
Virginia Chipurnoi’s daughter, Sarah Gore Reeves, has refused to acknowledge the concerns of advocates despite her close ties to the Humane Society of New York.
Amid growing concerns about the plight of the animals, the HSNY’s former Adoption Director who retired in 2020, Bonnie Tischler, contacted two other board members, Alexandra Rowley and James Gregorio, who is an attorney. Rowley and Gregorio assured Tischler that the whistleblowers and advocates were misinformed, and they promised to provide her with evidence that adoptions were taking place as they had in the past. Two weeks later, Rowley and Gregorio told Tischler that they had resigned from the board and could not provide her with any information. Tischler took this to mean that DeFeo, the Executive Director, refused to release the information or that the information was so damning that Rowley and Gregorio no longer wanted to be affiliated with the HSNY.Within days, a third board member, C. Jones Perry, resigned. None of the 11 remaining board members, most of whom are elderly and/or live in other states, responded to letters, emails and calls from Tischler and other advocates.
Three members of the board of the Humane Society of New York resigned amid the animal warehousing scandal, James Gregorio, C. Jones Perry and Alexandra Rowley
When advocates realized that the HSNY’s board was effectively defunct and that DeFeo was no longer accountable to the board, they began to publicly question why Mrs. Chipurnoi was still listed as the President and why fundraising solicitations were being sent out in her name. They wanted shelter community stakeholders and members of the public to know that the primary guardrail in place to ensure that adoptions were being facilitated, an active board president, had come down and that DeFeo, who describes the shelter as a “foster home” and cages as “apartments,” was no longer accountable to a board.
In an effort to give the public the impression that Virginia Chipurnoi is still serving as its board President, the Humane Society of New York launched a website in her name.
In response to advocates’ questions about Chipurnoi’s ability to serve as board president, the HSNY has taken steps to give the public the impression that Virginia Chipurnoi is still capable and active. In 2021, a year after Chipurnoi left New York, the HSNY reported on its 990 tax form that she volunteered at the shelter 30 hours/week. In September 2023, the Humane Society launched the website VirginiaChipurnoi.com which features articles with titles like “How to Spot, Treat and Prevent Gastric Dilation and Volvulus in Dogs” and “Why Canine Dental Examinations Are So Important.” Mrs. Chipurnoi is neither a vet nor a vet tech. Even if she was not cognitively impaired, she would not be qualified to write articles about gastric dilation, canine dental exams and yeast infections in dogs. The most recent article, posted on December 12th, encourages people who cannot adopt a dog to foster one, despite the fact that the Humane Society of New York has, to the frustration of shelter animal advocates, a no-foster policy.
The website also claims that Chipurnoi “leads the HSNY in its advocacy against live animal markets, horse slaughter, roadside zoos, canned hunts, and other issues.”The HSNY doesn’t work on any of those issues, but, even if they did, how could Mrs. Chipurnoi, who went silent almost four years ago, be “leading” these campaigns?
In a meeting with lawyers representing the state Attorney General’s office, which oversees charities in New York, Tischler and the advocates asked if the absence of a functioning board of directors and the organization’s failure to fulfill its mission violate state law. While sympathetic, the lawyers indicated that they would not consider taking enforcement action unless the advocates could provide data on the number of adoptions taking place. While that information is not publicly available because the HSNY is a private charity, advocates did learn that, during a 2022 inspection by New York City’s Department of Health, the HSNY claimed to have facilitated an average of one adoption per week between March and October that year. For a shelter that takes in $3 million in donations each year, is located in a bustling residential area and has the capacity for 125 – 175 animals according to its own tax forms, that number is, according to the advocates, “abysmal.”
In 1975, the New York Times published a story about Virginia Chipurnoi’s wardrobe.
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.”
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.”
“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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.”
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 what’s happening in the field in Australia.”
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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.
