On Saturday February 8, animal rights organisation Viva! are staging the 2nd international day of action against Adidas. They say that Adidas are the biggest buyers of kangaroo skins in the world, funding an industry that shoots millions of adult kangaroos so their skins can be turned into football boots.
Animal activists across the UK, the US, Australia and Europe hope to encourage retailers not to sell any kangaroo skin products such as the Adidas Predator football boot, by peacefully demonstrating outside sports shops. 50 events are expected to take place in the UK alone, with Viva!’s main demo being held outside Lilywhite’s sports shop in central London.
To precede the day of action, on Wednesday February 5, Viva! campaigners will protest outside the Adidas headquarters in Stockport, at their international headquarters in Portland, USA, in Melbourne, Australia, and the global HQ in Germany.
Each year, hunters are licensed to shoot millions of adult kangaroos for their meat and skins. According to Viva! baby ‘joeys’ – worthless to the industry – are ripped from their dead mothers’ pouches and bludgeoned, decapitated or simply abandoned to die of starvation and neglect.
Australia is currently in the midst of one of the worst droughts on record and bush fires are raging across the country, decimating kangaroo numbers, yet the kangaroo industry continues to shoot millions more.
The Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia is quoted as saying: ‘This [soccer boot] industry is vital to the kangaroo industry. Without it underpinning kangaroo skin prices the entire industry would be at risk.’
Viva! claim that with 70% of the market for professional football boots, Adidas are the driving force behind the slaughter. They say this is despite the fact that rivals, Nike, produce 100% synthetic boots as worn by Ronaldo, the world’s number one footballer, and a range of boots made from synthetic kangaroo skin worn by other world class players.
‘Kangaroos are under attack from all directions: the drought, the fires and the hunter’s rifle’, says Viva!’s director, Juliet Gellatley. ‘Adidas is showing itself to be devoid of compassion and ethics by continuing to use kangaroo skin and the Predator boot is living up to its name, leaving a trail of blood in the outback. Don’t support the suffering – boycott Adidas until they stop slaughtering wildlife for profit.’
Viva! is working with the Wildlife Protection Association of Australia, the Australian Wildlife Protection Council and other wildlife and animal welfare groups to end the commercial kangaroo industry. For further information on this campaign go to
[http://www.savethekangaroo.com]
