Urgent Action Needed for Kangaroos in California: Contact Arnie Now!

07 September 2007: SB 880, a bill that would allow the sale of kangaroo skins and body parts in the state of California, is sailing through the legislative process. Sadly, it has passed the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee and has just narrowly passed a floor vote by the Assembly. This means that the kangaroos still need your help. Only Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has the power now to stop this legislation in its tracks. So even if you have already taken action on this issue, please take this opportunity to speak out one more time in opposition to SB 880.

If this bill passes it would erase a law that was implemented in 1970 to protect kangaroos by prohibiting the sale of their skins. A similar bill passed the legislature last session that reversed this protection for alligators, allowing their skins to be sold in California. It is important that the same fate does not befall the kangaroos.

How You Can Help

If you live in California, please help maintain protections for kangaroos in the state by doing the following:

Contact the Governor and urge him to veto (oppose) SB 880 now it has passed the Assembly.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-2841
916-445-4633 fax
governor@governor.ca.gov

Points to make:

Kangaroos are not farmed. They are taken from the wild in Australia, and exist only in Australia.
Kangaroos are shot at night by hunters. The hunters are not always able to distinguish between those who are “approved” to be killed and others who are endangered. In Queensland, Australia, the Western Grey Kangaroo is not allowed to be killed, but it can be mistaken for the Eastern Grey that is allowed to be hunted.
The existing law that would be changed by this bill was made to protect certain “look-alike” species, so that Californians do not unwittingly contribute to the extinction of a species.
If a kangaroo that is killed is a mother with a baby in her pouch, the baby is taken out and killed by a heavy blow to the head (according to the Australian Code of Practice). Similar methods are used in Canada’s seal hunt; both California and Federal laws prohibit the sale of seal products from Canada because of the cruel killing methods used.
According to official Australian government statistics, kangaroo populations continue to decline and are now the lowest they have been in over a decade. Current populations are well below half of what they were in 2001. (Source: Sustainable Wildlife Industries, Dept of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra, 2006). Reintroduction of the trade in kangaroo skins into California would be disastrous, as there are already too few kangaroos to meet the industry's demands.

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