Aug 29 2023 39 mins
Don’t be a Dick’s.
That’s the message of a new campaign initiative by Animal Wellness Action and its sister organization, the Center for a Humane Economy. It’s targeted at Dick’s Sporting Goods, the largest sporting-goods retailer in the United States, and intends to call attention to the chain’s role in the largest commercial slaughter of land-based wildlife in the world.
Dick’s Sporting Goods remains a significant reseller of shoes sourced from killed kangaroos. Several models from Adidas, New Balance and other brands are marketed in their more than 750 physical locations and on its website, patronized by millions of shoppers across the globe.
The hunting of kangaroos is barbaric and, given the availability and superiority of synthetic shoe material, needless. What’s worse, in addition to the approximately 1.7 million kangaroos shot in the dead of night each year, about a half a million joeys are killed as collateral damage. The infants are pulled from the pouches of their dead mothers and killed immediately, usually by being bludgeoned to death against the bumper of the assassins’ trucks.
The two groups have been successful, after years of online and instore protests, in persuading Puma and Nike to stop manufacturing shoes from kangaroo parts. Now, with the Don’t Be a Dick’s campaign, they hope to apply pressure against the hold-out brands by expressing their revulsion against this major reseller.
Joining host Joseph Grove are Jennifer Skiff and Kate Schultz Barton. Skiff is the director of international programs for the organizations. A dual citizen of Australia, she shares firsthand knowledge of kangaroos, their nature and their role in Australian culture. Barton is senior attorney for the organization and led several suits brought against retailers in California who sold kangaroo-sourced shoes, where such sales are illegal. Barton also discusses the newly filed Kangaroo Protection Act (H.R. 4995), introduced by U.S. Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.
People can sign the petition at this link: https://animalwellnessaction.org/dont-be-a-dicks
LINKS FROM THE SHOW
- Support the Kangaroo Protection Act: https://secure.everyaction.com/W7p8uQb3_k-aKWb-tyAyLg2
- The Don’t Be a Dick’s video: https://youtu.be/z8rzNn63JEw?si=P5MQeIzlf1e2mToi
- The recent store protest at an Adidas store in New York City: https://www.facebook.com/reel/321400827126640
- Our video from Gavin Pallone, producer of The Gilmore Girls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=aM1HXFmLPhU
The Animal Wellness podcast is produced by Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. It focuses on improving the lives of animals in the United States and abroad through legislation and by influencing businesses to create a more humane economy. The show is hosted by veteran journalist and animal-advocate Joseph Grove. It is available on all major podcast distribution platforms.
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Music from https://filmmusic.io: "Fearless First" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com); License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)