Kangaroos

[eve]

Just got back to Australia after a visit to the US, and among my emails was this one from 'Animals Australia':
Commercial killing of kangaroos happens on a huge scale in Australia - with quotas of over 6 million annually in recent years. Animals Australia opposes the kangaroo industry, primarily because of the suffering caused to the kangaroos involved - wounded adults and the brutal killing of dependent joeys. No monitoring or policing takes place at the point of kill. The industry exists due to the commercial trade in kangaroo products (meat and skins), not 'pest control' as farmers and kangaroo shooters claim.

The national 'Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroo' (1990) - the Code that shooters should comply with - is currently under review by a nationally appointed Committee chaired by Dr Peter Mawson, (Conservation and Land Management, WA).

A 'Discussion Paper' has been produced prior to that Committee drafting a new Code. The 'Discussion Paper' is available on the Animals Australia website [ www.animalsaustralia.org ] and on the federal Department of Environment and Heritage website [ http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/t...ion/index.html ]

You can have your say by responding to the Discussion Paper. Written submissions are due by 15 October 2004. Address details are with the Discussion paper.

I would encourage you to respond to the issues raised in the paper, or any other aspects of commercial kangaroo killing that is of concern to you.

For the Animals,
Glenys

[gertvegan]

Viva UK had an article on the plight of kangaroos, addidas and kangaroo leather football boots, and Viva USA's court case with addidas. See save the kangaroo .

Eve its nice to see you back, you've been missed. I wondered where you were, forgot you were in US, and tried to pm you, but for some reason I can't. Anyway, nice to see you back.

[eve]

gertvegan, thank you for your msg. I did look in on the forum a couple of times when I could, at an internet cafe. When I arrived late last night, I was so thankful to be back home!

Yes Viva does an awful lot to help the kangaroos, and Ms Gellatley was an effective speaker when she came out to Australia a little while back.

[cast_the_flames]

i ate kangaroo once...

sorry, just thought i'd gross you out from my pre-vegan days

[Roxy]

yes, I'll quite ashamedly admit that I tried kangaroo once. I wish I hadn't.

[uww27225]

I haven't eaten Kangaroo, but I played soccer in high school. I'm ashamed to say I bought kangaroo leather cleats.

[gertvegan]

Cleats ? Do you mean football ( soccer ) boots ?

[uww27225]

Yeah football boots. A lot of the adidas boots have kangaroo leather uppers.

[eve]

Following is an extract from The cruelty Free Shop's current newsletter:

The Largest Massacre of (land) Wildlife in the World - In my last newsletter I told you about the poisoning of over 100,000 wallabies on King Island off Tasmania. Thank you to everyone who wrote letters of protest. Following on from that it is important for us to recognise that another brutal slaughter of Australia's native wildlife is happening on an ongoing basis and on an even larger scale. Every year in Australia literally millions of adult kangaroos are shot in what is now the largest massacre of land animals in the world. In addition to this, millions of orphaned baby joeys, "worthless" to the industry, are shot, stamped on, clubbed over the head or abandoned to die.

What can you do?
1. Never buy products made from kangaroo leather or meat (check pet food ingredients carefully)
2. Write to Adidas to tell them how you feel about them using kangaroo leather in their soccer boots (see a sample letter and addresses at www.savethekangaroo.com/adidas/index.shtml).
3. Tell friends and family about the kangaroo slaughter, I really believe that most Australians aren’t aware this is going on.
4. Find out more, including who to write protest letters to, at the Australian Wildlife Protection Council’s website www.awpc.org.au/kangaroos/kangaroos.htm

You don't have to be Australian to protest!

[tails4wagging]

Last year my friends and I did a viva campaign outside a sports shop selling addidas kangeroo skin boots. We chose a saturday when the football match was just about to start.

[Roxy]

When I was back in Australia recently - I visited a lot of those touristy shops looking for souvenier t-shirts. I was mortified to see them selling "Kangaroo Scrotum Pouches" (little leather bags made of kangaroo scrotum).

Thanks for the links Eve.