Arizona house bill would ban selling kangaroo parts

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - A house bill that would ban the selling or buying of kangaroo parts has been introduced in the Arizona state legislature. It targets companies that use kangaroo leather to make products like soccer cleats. Activists said killing the animals for their skin is cruel and unnecessary.

“Two million kangaroos are killed, including 500,000 joeys out in the Australian outback for a product no one needs any longer,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Center for Humane Economy. California banned kangaroo-based products in the 1970s and similar legislation was introduced in Oregon in January.

Pacelle said other synthetic products are already on the market. “We counted up all the goal scores and out of 172 goals scored in all of the games that constituted the World Cup, 164 of them were from players who do not wear kangaroo-based shoes,” he said.

Federal legislation to ban kangaroo parts was introduced in 2021 but did not pass. Some researchers have argued that banning the commercial trade would lead to over population of kangaroos in Australia. “We believe the recent move is driven by emotive misinformation by animal activist groups targeting US politicians,” said Dennis King, executive officer of Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Puma said that it is using a limited amount of kangaroo leather for the production of shoes in its football segment. Arizona’s Family reached out to Nike and Adidas but have not heard back at this time.

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