Stop of Kangaroo Slaughter in Australia
ThePremier@premiers.qld.gov.au, premiers.master@premiers.qld.gov.au, bob.carr@www.nsw.gov.au, senator.ian.campbell@aph.gov.au, gailm@amsg.austmus.gov.au, joehockey@joehockey.com, tra@tourism.australia.com, Emma.Belcher@dfat.gov.au, sustainability@adidas.de, sustainability@adidas.de, customerservices@umbro.com, email@lotto.it, Consumer.Relations@adidasus.com, query@adidas.co.uk
Dear Honorable Officials of Australia and Athletic Footwear Manufacturers:
It's the largest known slaughter of land wildlife. Australian kangaroos die under a veil of government-sanctioned cruelty. Though beloved around the world, the kangaroo is easily butchered to make a pair of soccer cleats. Of course, kangaroos are no endangered species, but what about the single, feeling individual? Humans are also everything else than an endangered species and you can also use their skin as leather, so where's the difference?
I call upon federal and state politicians to outlaw this brutal industry. Kangaroos do not ravage grazing lands and crops. The widespread farming of cows and sheep does. In fact, scientific studies show kangaroos have minimal impact on agricultural properties.
I ask the footwear trade that profits from kangaroo skins to utilize sophisticated faux materials. I cannot support companies willing to sacrifice wildlife. The red kangaroo, Australia's largest kangaroo
species, is imperiled from shooters who covet their lucrative big skins. I urge manufacturers to ban kangaroo leather footwear.
Australia's Code of Practice, which functions independently of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, permits the annual slaughter of a million or more joeys. With no legally enforceable cruelty regulations, the Code allows hunters to spotlight kangaroos in the Australian outback at
night. Shooters aim for the head but often miss the brain, leaving kangaroos with gaping head and mouth wounds. These animals flee beyond the spotlight's glare, to slowly die in the scrub.
Joeys are yanked from their slain mother's pouch and clubbed on the head with water pipes or iron bars until dead. In-pouch joeys may be fatally trampled, belted with sticks, or slammed against vehicles and tree trunks. When their mothers are gunned down, older joeys (who live in and out of the pouch) die alone from exposure, starvation, predation, and maternal depravation.
Time and again this morbid scene is recorded in photographs, videos, and eyewitness accounts. International audiences can view the evidence in ABC's documentary "Kangaroos - Faces in the Mob" or the International Fund for Animal Welfare film with Greg Eichner, NSW shooter/farmer.
Like the Canadian seal hunt, Australia's legal massacre is ethically bankrupt and rooted in pseudo-science. The government's pro-kangaroo industry scientists fail to recognize varying needs of the four commercially killed species. Instead, they are "managed" as a single species. Population counts are guess-timates and numbers are controlled artificially to advance the kangaroo trade.
There is a lack of unbiased data to validate the notion kangaroos must be killed for "damage mitigation." Conversely, the kangaroo's soft padded feet and long tail help regenerate native grasses. Destructive agricultural practices, on the other hand, are proving unsustainable.
I am baffled as to why the government overlooks Australia's $6 billion nature-based tourism industry. If money is the initiative, why not maximize eco-tourism rather than condone the killing of red kangaroos at a rate three times higher than they can reproduce??
I respectfully ask the government to work toward the non-consumptive "use" of kangaroos for tourism. I encourage all footwear manufacturers to abandon kangaroo leather for once and for all!
Yours sincerely,
-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Datum: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 12:59:31 +0200
Von: "HE_Sustainability" <Sustainability@adidas.de>
RE: Stop of Kangaroo Slaughter in Australia
Dear xx,
Vegetarians International Voice for Animals, an animal rights group based in Britain, has asked the adidas Group to stop using kangaroo leather in the manufacture of its soccer boots, claiming that the killing of kangaroos is "cruel and barbaric" and that it will lead to the "extinction" of these animals.
The adidas Group has a policy of openness and engagement with our many stakeholders. We listen to all views. We have therefore studied Viva!'s concerns very closely since Viva! started its campaign in August 2002.
As a company, the adidas Group is committed to sustainable business practices and we apply these to the selection of the materials used in our products. We also believe that if future generations are to inherit a world rich in ecological diversity, it is important for everyone in society to help conserve and protect wildlife. Consequently, the company does not source leather from any endangered or threatened species. Nor do we accept the use of leathers in our products which have involved the inhumane treatment of animals, whether these animals are wild or domesticated, i.e. farmed.
All kangaroos, except for those in zoos or wildlife parks, are free ranging wild animals. While it is impossible to determine the exact number of kangaroos in Australia, the population of the four most common species - those which are harvested - has been estimated by the Australian Government to be more than 50 million. None of the common species of kangaroo that are harvested are considered endangered animals.
To have a better understanding of the issues raised by Viva!, we have met the companies which supply kangaroo leather to our footwear manufacturers and have examined current industry practices. We have also met with their parent body, the Kangaroo Leather Association of Australia, and with representatives of Environment Australia, the Government agency that regulates the harvesting of kangaroos.
The Australian Government has strict rules for those involved in kangaroo culling. The Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos, developed by all wildlife agencies in Australia, clearly defines the species that can be commercially harvested, sets out an achievable standard of humane conduct and is the minimum requirement for people who harvest kangaroos. As part of its wildlife management program the Australian Government is reviewing its Code of Practice on an ongoing basis.
Based on previous meetings and the current information supplied to us, we have concluded that Viva! is misinformed and that their claims are misleading. We trust the Australian Government's assurances and expertise in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Hubl
adidas AG
Social & Environmental Affairs
Übersetzung ins Deutsche:
Vegetarians International Voice for Animals, eine Tierschutzgruppe mit Sitz in Großbritannien, hat die adidas Gruppe aufgefordert, die Verwendung von Känguruleder in der Fußballschuhproduktion einzustellen. Viva! behauptet, das Töten von Kängurus sei "grausam und barbarisch" und würde zur "Ausrottung" dieser Tiere führen.
Die adidas Gruppe verfolgt den Grundsatz von Offenheit und Engagement bei ihren vielen Stakeholdern. Wir sind an allen Meinungen und Ansichten interessiert und haben aufgrund dessen seit Beginn der Kampagne im August 2002 die Bedenken von Viva! sehr sorgfältig geprüft.
Als Unternehmen fühlt sich die adidas Gruppe nachhaltigen Geschäftsmethoden verpflichtet und wendet diese auch in der Auswahl der Materialien für seine Produkte an. Wenn künftige Generationen eine Welt reich an ökologischer Vielfalt erben sollen, halten wir es für sehr wichtig, dass jeder auf der Welt dazu beiträgt, wild lebende Tiere zu schützen und zu erhalten. Wir verwenden deswegen kein Leder von gefährdeten oder bedrohten Tierarten. Wir akzeptieren kein Leder in unseren Produkten, das mit der inhumanen Behandlung von Tieren im Zusammenhang steht, egal ob diese Tiere in freier Wildbahn leben oder domestiziert, d.h. gezüchtet sind.
Alle Kängurus, außer denen in Zoos oder Wildreservaten, sind wild lebende Tiere. Obwohl es nicht möglich ist, die genaue Anzahl der Kängurus in Australien zu ermitteln, schätzt die australische Regierung die Bevölkerung der vier verbreitesten Känguruarten, d.h. die die gejagt werden, auf über 50 Millionen. Keine der verbreiteten und gejagten Känguruarten gelten als gefährdete Tiere.
Um die von Viva! vorgetragenen Bedenken besser verstehen zu können, haben wir uns mit den Unternehmen getroffen, die unsere Schuhhersteller mit Känguruleder beliefern, und wir haben die gegenwärtige Praxis dieser Branche untersucht. Wir haben uns auch mit dem Dachverband, der Kangaroo Leather Association of Australia, und mit Vertretern von Environment Australia, der für die Regelung der Jagd von Kängurus verantwortlichen Regierungsbehörde, getroffen.
Die australische Regierung hat sehr strenge Regeln für das Erlegen von Kängurus. Der Kodex für das Humane Erlegen von Kängurus, der in Zusammenarbeit mit sämtlichen Naturschutzbehörden in Australien entwickelt wurde, spezifiziert klar die Arten, die kommerziell gejagt werden dürfen. Er legt zudem einen zu befolgenden Standard für humanes Verhalten fest und gilt als Mindestanforderung für Personen, die berechtigt sind, in Australien Kängurus zu jagen. Im Rahmen ihres Wildlife-Management-Programms prüft die australische Regierung laufend ihren Kodex für das Humane Erlegen von Kängurus.
Basierend auf den vorangegangenen Zusammenkünften und den Informationen, die wir daraus erhalten haben, sind wir zu dem Schluss gekommen, dass Viva! falsch informiert ist, und dass ihre Behauptungen irreführend sind. Wir vertrauen auf die Zusicherungen und die Kompetenz der australischen Regierung in dieser Angelegenheit.
