Fw: Be there on April 22!

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" Viva! " <info

Thursday, April 10, 2003 1:16 PM

Be there on April 22!

 

 

If you are interested in attending the hearing at the State Capitol, please

contact Viva! at 530/759-8482. Thanks & please do try to attend for the

roos!

 

For immediate release:

April 10, 2003

 

For more information contact:

lauren Ornelas 530/759-8482

 

Video footage of kangaroo slaughter available

 

German Company Seeks to Undermine California Law?

California Senator Introduces Legislation to Allow the Sale of Kangaroo

Skins

 

Davis, CA.Senate Bill 233 (SB233), introduced by Senator Dennis

Hollingsworth, would amend a penal code in California that currently

prohibits the selling of kangaroo, crocodile, and alligator skins. The bill

is scheduled to be heard on April 22 before the Senate Natural Resources and

Wildlife Committee.

 

Last summer, Viva! launched an international campaign against the use of

kangaroo skins by giant sports company, Adidas. On August 31, 2002, Viva!USA

hand-delivered a letter to Adidas' USA corporate headquarters in Portland,

OR, notifying them that they were violating California law by selling soccer

cleats made from kangaroo skins.

 

" Viva! believes it is no coincidence that at this strategic time in its

campaign against Adidas, this bill is introduced which directly benefits

Adidas and encourages the destruction of wildlife, " said lauren Ornelas US

Campaigns Director Viva!USA.

 

California, often a leader in progressive legislation, has had a law on the

books protecting kangaroos since the 1970's. " We are appalled that a

California senator may be placing a non-California company's interests ahead

of the will of the people of California by removing the protection currently

afforded to kangaroos, " said Ornelas.

 

" The Australian government allows the bludgeoning of baby kangaroos after

they have been torn from their mother's pouches -- just to make shoes, " said

Ornelas. " Californians I have spoken with believe this is cruel and that we

should not cater to one interest group that wants to kill animals that have

been protected for 30 years. "

 

Wildlife Endangerment Concerns

 

Larger skins are preferred by the kangaroo skin industry. Thus, the process

of natural selection as the largest and fittest animals are targeted. These

are animals who would normally survive a drought. Leaving the smaller and

younger animals to breed causes the gene pool to weaken. According to Dr.

Ian Gunn of the Animal Gene Storage Resource Centre of Australia, " [T]he

continued slaughter of kangaroos has the potential to cause the extinction

of a number of remaining species. " Six species of kangaroos are already

extinct on the Australian mainland and 17 species are listed as endangered

or vulnerable. The Red Kangaroo is being killed 3 times faster than they can

reproduce. In 1960, their average age was 12, now it is two.

 

Animal Cruelty

 

Each year, hunters are licensed to shoot millions of adult kangaroos for

their meat and skins. Baby 'joeys' - worthless to the industry - are ripped

from their dead mothers' pouches and bludgeoned, decapitated, or simply

abandoned to die of starvation. 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.

 

Plain and simple - this law provides Californians with a way to speak out

against the kangaroo massacre. Kangaroos are wildlife, not shoes. Adidas

needs to get in step with the times and use synthetic materials for all

their shoes.

 

Organizations opposed to SB233: Action for Animals, American Society for the

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal

Place, Animal Protection Institute, Association of Veterinarians for Animal

Rights, California Lobby for Animal Welfare, Doris Day Animal League, The

Fund for Animals, The Humane Society of the United States, In Defense of

Animals, Last Chance for Animals, People for the Ethical Treatment of

Animals, Vegan Outreach, Viva!USA.

 

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