Washington, DC-(Effingham Radio)- Today, U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced legislation to protect the estimated two million wild kangaroos who are needlessly killed every year for the use of their leather in commercial products. The killing of kangaroos for their leather, also known as “k-leather,” is currently the largest commercial slaughter of mammals worldwide driven by demand for their skin in certain models of soccer cleats. To help reverse this inhumane trend and safeguard the kangaroo species from commercial exploitation, the Senators’ Kangaroo Protection Act would ban the sale and manufacturing of products made from kangaroo skin, as well as the sale of kangaroo skin itself. Additionally, this legislation would empower the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with other agencies, to issue civil and criminal penalties of fines up to $10,000 and other regulations.
“The mass killing of millions of kangaroos to make commercial products is needless and inhumane—and we must do better,” said Senator Duckworth. “I’m proud to introduce this bill with Senator Booker that would help prevent the deadly exploitation of kangaroos and promote the use of more humane alternatives to k-leather.”
“We must take action to conserve the kangaroo species and end their inhumane exploitation,” said Senator Booker. “This legislation will ensure that no one in the United States can distribute kangaroo products for commercial benefits.”
The commercial slaughter of kangaroos isn’t just widespread—it’s unnecessarily cruel. It uses similar killing methods and is ten times larger than the infamously brutal Canadian seal hunt, which prompted the United States to ban the import of seal pelts in 1972. Despite having similar import bans for other animals, the U.S. is currently the second largest commercial market for k-leather products in the world. The Senators’ proposed legislation would help change that.
Copy of the bill text is available on Senator Duckworth’s website.
A similar version of the bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2021, which had 17 co-signers and strong bipartisan support.
“Commercial shooters slay perhaps 1.5 million kangaroos a year in their native habitats for parts, mainly used in soccer cleats, sold across the world,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “Senator Duckworth’s bill puts a stop to that commerce in the United States, and it will prevent the mass orphaning of joeys whose mothers are killed in merciless and indiscriminate nighttime shoots.”
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