Follow the journey from kangaroo to soccer shoe
Some of these images are graphic
Just do it . . .
tell Nike to stop supporting the world’s largest wildlife slaughter
With your help, we intend to convince Nike to stop using kangaroo skin for soccer shoes.
More than two million kangaroos are shot each year in Australia. It’s the largest land-based commercial wildlife slaughter in the world, ten times larger and far bloodier than the notorious seal slaughter in Canada.
Why kill the beloved Australian icon? Americans protect bald eagles. New Zealand protects kiwi birds. China protects giant pandas. Yet the Australian government sanctions and subsidizes the hunts, with kangaroo meat going to pet food and the skins to manufacturers like Nike and adidas for “k-leather” soccer shoes, despite a rising chorus of protest from soccer stars.
Imagine, wild kangaroos survive Australia’s horrific wildfires only to be at risk of being shot by hunters. Imagine the estimated 500,000 joeys who become collateral damage, taken from the pouches of their shot mother and killed with blunt force trauma or left to starve. Not too sporting.
Alive . . . and kicking
We’ve placed out billboards where Nike executives can’t miss them
In force but not enforced
A California law bans the import or sale of kangaroo parts, but that isn’t stopping manufactures, retailers and ecommerce website selling kangaroo leather soccer shoes
More than 100 California stores and online retailers (including Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Puma and Amazon-owned Zappos) are illegally selling athletic shoes made of kangaroo skin — according to an exhaustive, months-long investigation by the Center for a Humane Economy (a national non-profit organization that promotes animal welfare in the business sector).
Stop the Sales!
Calling out corporate CEOs
Read our letters to Nike and adidas protesting their use of wild kangaroo skin for soccer shoes by clicking the logos below.
G-o-a-l- l-l of our campaign:
End the kangaroo skin trade
Kangaroos Are Not Shoes is a campaign by the Center for a Humane Economy with a single goal: secure a commitment from athletic shoe companies to rid their supply chains of kangaroo skins. This website is intended to be a resource for animal advocates, conservationists, the media, shoe companies, lawmakers, and others interested in this long standing and long overlooked issue.
Wayne’s Take
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Help us stop the world’s largest wildlife slaughter!
Nike, just redo it
Interview with former Congressman Robert Mrazek
35 years ago, Mrazek introduced the Kangaroo Protection Act banning the import of all kangaroo products into the United States.
Interview with former Congressman Robert Mrazek
Below are some letters from of our corporate outreach campaign.
- All
- Nike
- adidas
- Puma
Athletic wear giant, New Balance, informs the Center for a Humane Economy it will phase out use of kangaroo skins and halt sales of kangaroo-based shoes by December 2024. Our campaign now continues as the Center and its grassroots advocates turn their attention to Adidas and other manufacturers to demand that they stop driving the killing of kangaroos.
Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) re-introduces the Kangaroo Protection Act (H.R. 4995) in Congress. The Act aims to ban the importation and sale of kangaroo products in the United States.
Tell your legislator to support the Kangaroo Protection Act here.
July 2023Puma and Nike announce they will no longer offer soccer cleats made from kangaroo skins. These actions mark major victories for the Center’s Kangaroos Are Not Shoes campaign.
Mar. 2023
Connecticut and New Jersey introduce bills to ban the commercial trade of kangaroo parts and products.
Oregon, the headquarters of Nike, gets its own bill introduced by the Senate Judiciary Committee – Senate Bill 764 will prohibit the commercial trade of kangaroo across the state.
Jan. 2023World Cup results established over 95% of goals scored during the entire tournament were by players who wore synthetic cleats.
Dec 2022We provided Terra Mater Studios with a history of our campaign work and efforts in order to help raise awareness of the kangaroo slaughter through a digital short available on YouTube with over 12k.
Our short film was awarded “Best Public Service Announcement” in the International Vegan Film Festival.
Nov. 2022World Kangaroo Day global effort to contact Nike’s Board of Directors through emails sent by our supporters and through our global network across Australia and Europe to remind Nike of their pledge to phase out kangaroo products over a decade ago.
Oct. 2022Accompanied by a giant mobile billboard, several hundred supporters protest Nike at their store in Soho. It was the fourth and largest protest held in New York City.
Aug. 2022We filed lawsuits against retailers after our investigations documented illegal selling of kangaroo leather soccer cleats in two Californian based stores.
July 2022Protests held in New York City, Santa Monica, and Portland.
First protest at a Nike store held in California in collaboration with Los Angeles for Animals – where it is illegal to sell kangaroo products but our investigations have collected evidence of illegal sales in multiple retail locations across the state.
Additional protest held again outside Nike in NYC.
*images courtesy of Tyler Lang
June 2022Global Day of Protest against Nike with events held outside Nike stores in New York City, Portland, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide.
The Dutch government introduce a petition to ban the importation of kangaroo products into the European Union.
Apr. 2022Article in One Green Planet calling out Nike’s cruel and unsustainable role in the kangaroo slaughter written in collaboration with our Australian partners.
Mar. 2022Webinar held to share updates on our efforts to end the commercial slaughter and how supporters can help with updates on what is going on in Australia – like New South Wales' MP Mark Pearson introducing a bill to ban kangaroo slaughter.
Feb. 2022Partnered with our Australian friends to hold protests at Nike’s flagship stores across the east coast of Australia — proving once and for all that the Australian public does not support Nike’s commercial exploitation of their national icon.
Dec 2021Amassed over 70,000 petition signatures telling Nike CEO John Donahoe to stop using kangaroo skin.
Established and funded the formation of the International Kangaroo Protection Alliance (IKPA) — with over 50 members this group of scientists, ecologists, advocates, campaigners, kangaroo careers and rescuers are working towards a singular goal — to protect and celebrate kangaroos.
Erected Billboards in the heart of Nike headquarters in Portland, Oregon — right where the big Nike executives can’t miss them check out the billboard here.
Produced explosive 60 second film putting the exploitation of kangaroos for shoes on the world stage. The film made by Hollywood producers Gavin Polone and Derek Ambrosi was seen by hundreds of thousands of people and was supported and tweeted by Ricky Gervais - check it out here.
For the first time in a generation, a bill has been introduced in Congress to address the mass slaughter of kangaroos for athletic shoes and other garments. The Kangaroo Protection Act of 2021 (H.R. 917) was introduced by Representatives Salud Carbajal (D-Calif) and Brian Fitzpatrick R-Penn).
Published our No-buy List to allow consumers to make an informed choice and avoid the purchase of boots that are helping to drive the largest slaughter of land-based wild animals on the planet
Published our No-buy List to allow consumers to make an informed choice and avoid the purchase of boots that are helping to drive the largest slaughter of land-based wild animals on the planet
Center for a Humane Economy exposed and held to account hundreds of California retailers illegally (cite the penal code and link) selling kangaroo skin boots through our landmark investigation Skin in the Game
Center for a Humane Economy published an industry analysis of the significant developments in plant-based fabrics, plastics, and other synthetic products which spurred a sharp reduction in the amount of leather in footwear in the last decade, particularly in athletic shoes.