Kangaroo Slaughter
World’s largest land-based wildlife slaughter
Kangaroo meat is the largest commercial wildlife trade worldwide
1.5 million kangaroos, including 130,000 joeys killed in 2018
3 billion animals, including thousands of kangaroos, were killed in the Australian winter 2020 fires
Kangaroos are wild animals, shot and bludgeoned to death at night. Joeys are left to die or bludgeoned, too (Source: Kangaroos at Risk)
Kangaroo meat is doused with acetic and lactic acids for human and pet consumption (Source: Kangaroos at Risk)
E. coli, Salmonella, Taxoplasmosis and Q fever have been found in kangaroo meat for human and pet consumption
The latest US Food and Drug Administration recall of dog food made with kangaroo was in September 2020, due to salmonella
Kangaroos are slow-growing species with low reproductive rates and high juvenile mortality (Source: Kangaroos at Risk)
Significant loss of kangaroo habitats, leaving areas depleted of, or without kangaroo populations (Source: Kangaroos at Risk)
Chewy
Estimated 2020 revenues: $6.5 billion
Leading online pet retailer in the US and one of the fastest growing retailers
Largest seller of kangaroo products amongst online US pet retailers
Victories
California ban on the selling of kangaroo products: upheld in 2016
Russian ban on the importation of kangaroo meat (2014)
Companies that stopped selling products made from kangaroos:
Diadora, Versace, Prada, Miu Miu, Paul Smith, Chanel, Victoria Beckham, Pets at Home, Bristol’s Burger Joint chain (UK), UK supermarket chains:Tesco, Morrisons, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, Belgian supermarket chains: Carrefour, Makro, Cora, Spar, and German supermarket chains: Kaufland, Real, Lidl, V-Market, and BEWITAL
Media Coverage
Kangaroos, an Australian icon, are being butchered to feed the pet food industry (Salon.com)
Kangaroos: The Risks of the World’s Largest Wildlife Trade (Our Daily Planet)