Chanting “Kangaroos Are Not Shoes — Don’t Be a Dick’s,” the New Hampshire Animal Rights League once again stormed Dick’s Sporting Goods, this time in Concord, calling on the store to stop selling shoes made from kangaroo skins.
Dick’s Sporting Goods is the country’s largest distributor of kangaroo-based soccer cleats made by Germany-based Adidas, Japanese-based Mizuno, and other companies.
Australia’s commercial kangaroo industry kills almost two million wild kangaroos each year. Commercial shooters are permitted to kill mother kangaroos even when the joeys are still in their pouch.
Joeys are left to die, bludgeoned to death, or decapitated (see “Guidelines for euthanasia of dependent young and wounded or injured kangaroos” in Australia’s National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies).
The kangaroo massacre represents the world’s largest slaughter of land-based wildlife on the planet.
The protest was in support of the Kangaroos Are Not Shoes campaign by the Center for a Humane Economy. Since the launch of the campaign, Puma, Nike, and New Balance have all announced commitments to halt the sale of kangaroo-based shoes.
A Bit of Media Coverage
Newspaper coverage of our protest caught the attention of InDepth NH reporter Roger Wood, who then interviewed NHARL president Joan O’Brien for his podcast.
