US to consider banning kangaroo products amid cruelty complaints | The Business | ABC News

Commercial kangaroo shooters are regulated under a national code that's supposed to protect animal welfare, but animal rights activists say what happens in rural Australia at night can be in breach and cruel. ABC News has obtained footage showing commercial shooters are not always fully adhering to the code, and that kangaroos are not always killed instantly, causing suffering. As global sportswear brands like Nike and Puma move to phase out use of kangaroo leather in football boots, other companies like New Balance are considering doing the same. In America, politicians are also circling to stop the trade. Californian law already bans the use of the kangaroo products, but a new bill – the Kangaroo Protection Act — would prohibit and criminalise the import, transport, and sale of all kangaroo products across the United States for commercial purposes. Australian exporters are fighting to protect the industry. Some argue that if there's no longer a viable commercial industry driving the culling of kangaroos, non-licensed shooters could move in to keep kangaroo populations down. But activists who have spent decades gathering evidence of animal cruelty, hope this may signal the end of trade that's been surrounded by controversy since kangaroos started being killed for exports under a regulated industry in the 1970s. Nassim Khadem investigates.
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