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Products bearing kangaroo skin will not be sold in California.

Today, The Humane Society of the United States hailed a decision by the California Supreme Court upholding a state law banning the import and sale of kangaroo and other wildlife parts.  The HSUS filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit challenging several athletic retailers' sale of kangaroo skin shoes in direct violation of the law. The case was filed in 2003 by Viva! International Voice for Animals, an animal protection organization, and a Los Angeles resident.

The California protection for kangaroos has been in place since 1970. Millions of kangaroos are killed in Australia for their skins, including baby kangaroos ripped from their mothers' pouches, and "look-a-like" species which may lead to the killing of endangered kangaroos.

"The Supreme Court's unanimous ruling restores the state's authority to protect imperiled wildlife, including the increasing number of species that are being removed from the federal Endangered Species Act," said Jonathan R. Lovvorn, vice president of animal protection litigation for The HSUS. "This is a critically important precedent, not just for California, but for all state fish and wildlife agencies across the country."

In its ruling, the California Supreme Court concluded that "[p]enal code section 653o addresses an area typically regulated by, and historically within the traditional police powers of, the states – wildlife management." The Court also noted that, "[n]otwitstanding Adidas's contrary argument, the scope of this power has long been recognized as extending to regulation of foreign species." 

The California state legislature is now considering a bill that would repeal the ban on kangaroo skin, S.B. 880.  The bill has passed the Senate and is pending in the Assembly, and The HSUS urges lawmakers to reject the bill.

What You Can Do

Ask your state assembly member to oppose S.B. 880 and protect kangaroos from unnecessary slaughter.

Timeline:

• In 1970, the California Legislature passed a statute, penal code section 653o, prohibiting the importation and sale of certain designated wildlife parts and products, including kangaroo.
• In 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisted the Australian red, eastern gray, and western gray kangaroo from the ESA, therefore removing any federal oversight of the kangaroo. 
• Adidas and other retailers continue to sell shoes made of kangaroo skin in California based on the contention that the state statute is preempted by the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).
• In 2003, Viva! International Voice for Animals and the Los Angeles resident filed suit against the athletic retailers for violating penal code section 653o. 
• The trial court sided with Adidas, and in 2005, the court of appeal affirmed that decision, finding that, although the federal government is no longer regulating kangaroos at all, the state law is preempted by "general" federal objectives of encouraging Australia to maintain effective kangaroo management.
• With the support of both the California Attorney General's Office and The HSUS, plaintiffs sought and obtained review in the California Supreme Court on March 1, 2006.
• On June 29, 2006, The HSUS submitted a "friend of the court" brief to the California Supreme Court in support of the state law.