Adidas using roo skin for their football boots- good or bad?

Hung roos - ouch.
Australia
October 20, 2008 6:43pm CST
This is an article from http://www.awpc.org.au/oldsite/kangaroos/giveadidastheboot.htm A million baby “joeys” will be slaughtered this year, torn from their dying mothers’ pouches and stamped on, clubbed to death or left to die of starvation. They are the discarded “trash” of Australia’s new growth industry - kangaroo meat and skin. Seven million adult kangaroos will also be shot to supply world markets - and the numbers are increasing inexorably. The company most eagerly supporting this mass slaughter is Adidas, by heavily marketing its highly-priced, kangaroo-skin, Predator football boots around the world. Headline stars such as David Beckham encourage the brutality by wearing and promoting Predator boots. Australia’s government sees kangaroos as an export earner -justifying the massacre with well-rehearsed myths. Adidas simply echoes them, claiming that kangaroos destroy wheat crops and degrade grazing land. New scientific studies show that 90 per cent of wheat fields never see a kangaroo and they have little impact on grazing. Even worse, the big skins demanded by Adidas and other shoe makers already threatens the largest species of kangaroo - the red. Targeting the biggest, fittest animals for their skin has the potential to cause extinction. The killing takes place at night in the outback and is unmonitored. Many animals are badly shot and are hauled on to trucks by steel hooks while still alive. It is the biggest massacre of land wildlife ever known. I am not too sure of Adidas' current stance on kangaroo skin for their football boots but I do know that dodgy practises are being used to kill the kangaroos. A few years back I was with Animal Liberation and we had a stall at a music festival. The organisers though it would be a good idea to situate us next to Greenpeace...bad idea. Greenpeace kept coming up to us all day explaining that kangaroo is a good option, because synthetic boots involve plastic and other materials that are bad for the environment. It was a good argument, but I felt that the wellbeing of the kangaroos was more important than making boots that are bad for the environment. This is where the argument ended and couldn'tbe resolved between us. So do you support the use of animal skins in boot production or do you support synthetic materials where no animals have been hurt in their production?
3 people like this
13 responses
20 Oct 08
Hi coffeeshot, I am so angry to hear that once again there are cruelty to animals, I am againt using or wearing anythin made of animals those people should be shot and as for Bechkam, he should be ashame of himself, I would not buy anything adidas, well i haven't anyway and nor has my husband, I amd so disgusted, and angry. Tamara
2 people like this
• Australia
21 Oct 08
While I was researching this, I came across a statement from Beckham's manager and he said that Beckham had gone back to synthetic boots. No doubt only because his reputation was at stake!
@Sheepie (3112)
• United States
20 Oct 08
I find this kind of ridiculous. I mean, when we have those chemically enhanced chickens and cows, at least we're eating them. I mean, come on. Boots? How many people even wear boots? Huge companies are proverbial monsters in this world.
2 people like this
• Australia
21 Oct 08
Money, money, money at any expense.
• Canada
21 Oct 08
Not sure what to think of that. Leather comes from cows etc. Don't they eat kangaroo meat somewhere? If an animal is used for meat as well as skin i don't see the problem, but if this is just a fashion, sport or status symbol then I am definitely against it.
1 person likes this
• Australia
21 Oct 08
Kangaroo meat is very lean and quite a few people here eat it (I couldn't bring myself to eat Skippy). However it's the manner in which the roos are being slaughtered. There aren't really any rules, and I have seen a couple of documentaries where the roo has been hung up while still alive..sort of trying to bounce off the hook on the back of the ute. I iamagine it would kinda hurt, especially driving over all the bumps and terrain in the outback.
@rosedust82 (2066)
• Philippines
20 Oct 08
Hi coffeeshot... Hmmm... I would not want to really use materials made from animal skin especially if it's made from species that might end up endangered. It's just like wearing fur coats. I know we all use animal skin at one time or another but I'd rather stick with using stuff that comes from those that are not endangered...
@onlydia (2808)
• United States
22 Oct 08
Well, you know here in the USA they can make the boots out of cow skin why don't they do that instead? I mean we kill them for food anyway. Now I just read that and it does sound cruel. But it is true so why can't they use cow instead of Kangaroo? I don't think it is right unless they are using all of the animal. And not to kill all of them not a good idea. But then what do you expect from most of your men. Me man me kill. me make money. there you have it. Your friend onlydia
1 person likes this
@psspurgeon1 (1109)
• United States
21 Oct 08
That is sad. I'm not sure of what a good medium would be but this doesn't sound like it. I find the kangaroo to be fascinating, I think most mothers can relate to them... I do hope that the roo killers can find another method for their madness and I don't believe I'll be buying my daughters their regular pair of adidas this season. Thank you for bringing this to the attention of mylot.
2 people like this
• New Zealand
21 Oct 08
It is saddening to see how selfish man has become, already I have seen 2 responses that have stated that it's fine for the torture to continue, as long as we can eat them. There is so much callousness towards other life forms it's unbelievable, if a pig gets its teeth ripped out while it cries in anguish from the pain, it's all fine just as long as we eat it. If a pig knows someone is going to eat it, does it suddenly think "oh that's alright then, I don't mind getting these teeth ripped out without anaesthetic, just as long as someone eats me". How would you feel if someone came to your home, took your children, beat them up, tortured them, and ate them. Would it be fine because they were eaten? Your source of true happiness stolen, your world flipped upside down. Oh but wait, it's just fine, because somebody ate them. Argh. I think this is my first MyLot rant... I tried to keep it short and relatively concise.
1 person likes this
@cupid74 (11388)
• Pakistan
21 Oct 08
Hi dear hope u must not like my response but here we have lot of Cows , Goats, sheeps are slaughtered daily to meet our food requirement, and for these purpose, these cattlees are properly raised and farm. and sure their skin is used in various items. AND shoes are one of them, So i dont mind if its done for purpose. If Kangroos are being slaughtered to get meet then its Ok, But if they are Shot for getting Skin, then its not Ok. They must be properly farmed and slaughtered to avoid pain. Then u can use skin to make shoes But sure i am against killing of animals just for the sake of Skin, Like Fox, Alligators, and other such animals which meat is not used As far as endanger species are concerned, i am sure Gov And wild life dept of Australia must be active and have proper law for it Best regards
@donna22 (1116)
21 Oct 08
Thats sick. Im a vegetarian and do not beleive in killing any animal just so we can eat it or wear its fur, skin etc. I use synthetic bags and trainers etc. I dont need to use real leather. I do not see the point in it. The fake stuff does the job its meant to do. Also, why do the killing methods have to be so violent and brutal? There is no need for it.
@judy43 (299)
• United States
21 Oct 08
This is horrible. I dont know why anyone would wear anything where the animal had to die. I think the synthetic materials would work fine but lots of people dont even think of the poor animals. Adidas should be ashamed for this. No Adidas shoes here
1 person likes this
@cjgrooms (4456)
• United States
21 Oct 08
I really rather not wear animals skin ANYWHERE on my body, YUCK! As for greenpeace those people need help because they are not thinking stright. Animal rights groups raised holy hell about wearing fur coats and they have nothing to say now that people are wear animal skins on their feet? Am i the only one that sees something outta whack here?
@mimico (3617)
• Philippines
21 Oct 08
Thanks so much for sharing this! What an eye opener! I normally don't read such long posts but this one caught my attention because I like joeys. Kangaroos are mean tempered so I don't really care about them..but still!! I think it's ok to kill the animals if the government can make sure that they'll never get extinct. But if the number of kangaroos are already dwindling then they ought to put a stop to it!!! I've never seen the Predator shoes just yet but I think many sports companies make use of animal skin for their shoes and balls. Wilson, which makes all the NFL's footballs, has been using cow hide for a long, long time.
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
21 Oct 08
Hi coffeeshot, I am an animal activist so this is truly disgusting news for me to hear! I can not for a minute believe that Adida's is doing this! If they are then I hate them and would picket their product. I already hated David Beckham and his ugly prissy wife! I don't agree with Greenpeace either! I don't give a fly phuck about the environment but I do care about what is being done to the poor defenseless kangaroos and their joeys! I do wish that there was something we could do to stop this disgusting slaughter. This is as bad as the slaughers of the dogs and cats in China for which I signed a petition!
1 person likes this