Follow the journey from kangaroo to soccer shoe

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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.

Please sign our petition

to help us save kangaroos!

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).

See summary here

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

Hey Nike, look at what your competitor did. Diadora, the fourth largest soccer cleat brand in the US, renounced the use of kangaroo skin in its soccer cleats. As a result, Diadora is getting great press and free marketing (like this). Just imagine the loyal customers it’s attracting. Nike, this could be you. We know you're proud of your products and commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility. But supporting the slaughter of millions of wild kangaroos is not the way to show it. Our animal advocacy colleagues in Italy, LAV, worked with Diadora (and parent company Geox) in the lead up to this Renouncement. We would like to work with you, Nike. Let’s just pursue 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

35 years ago, Mrazek introduced the Kangaroo Protection Act banning the import of all kangaroo products into the U.S.

Below are some letters from of our corporate outreach campaign.

Kangaroos are Not Shoes blog