| Campaigning
organisation Viva!’s third international day of protest
against sportswear giant Adidas is to take place on Saturday,
August 30, and will see demonstrations across the UK as well
as in Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Argentina,
Russia and the US. The demonstrations come hard on the heels
of the company’s announcement that its mid-year profits
are down 10 per cent following a slump in US sales.
Bristol-based Viva! ended the sale of most kangaroo meat
in the UK some years ago and began its campaign against the
German-based multinational when it discovered that Adidas
is one of the world’s biggest buyers of kangaroo skin,
which it uses in the manufacture of its Predator professional
football boots. Viva! claims that the trade in wildlife is
cruel and barbaric and has long-term implications for the
survival of the three main kangaroo species targeted. In particular,
Viva! accuses Adidas of being party to the beating to death
with iron bars of pouched baby kangaroos. After females are
shot, their pouches are searched for young, which shooters
are instructed to kill by decapitation or by bludgeoning to
death.
Six weeks ago, Viva!’s sister group, Viva!USA, issued
legal proceedings against Adidas and several retail stores
for supplying and selling kangaroo-skin boots in the state
of California, which has a law specifically prohibiting such
trade. The news was flashed around the world and although
the case has still to be heard, it triggered an immediate
three per cent slump in Adidas’ share price.
“Despite Australia having just experienced one of the
worst droughts in living memory, which has devastated kangaroo
populations, its government has sanctioned the death of nearly
seven million animals this year”, says Claudia Tarry,
Viva! campaigner. “As one of the biggest buyers of skins,
it is Adidas which helps to underpin this slaughter - the
largest massacre of wildlife ever seen.
“Australia has the worst record in the world for exterminating
species, including some kangaroos, yet Adidas continues to
fuel the killing by buying skins. It refuses even to discuss
the beating to death of hundreds of thousands of baby joeys
as it knows it is indefensible. This is Adidas’ Achilles
heel and Viva!’s third day of action will aim to tell
as many people as possible how their profits are boosted by
such abject cruelty. We will be trying to ensure that their
financial position deteriorates even further”.
For further information on the kangaroo skin trade, the Adidas
day of action or for still pictures and video footage, contact
Claudia Tarry or Tony Wardle on 0117 944 1000.
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