“Killing wild animals in their native environments to make shoes must end. It is an archaic, inhumane, and unnecessary practice.”

A short film that exposes the hidden cruelty behind Nike’s soccer shoes has been released.

‘Nike profits. Kangaroos die’ is a 60-second film produced by Gavin Polone – the man behind Gilmore Girls and Panic Room, and directed by Derek Ambrosi.

The film has been made in collaboration with animal-rights group The Center for a Humane Economy (CHE), Animal Wellness Action and Animal Wellness foundation.

The film uses reverse sequencing to trace the origin of Nike’s K-leather cleats going from a soccer player’s shoe kicking a ball into the goal, to the production factory and the Australian outback where wild kangaroos and their joeys are brutally slaughtered for their skins.

‘Expose the bloody truth’

“I wanted to expose the bloody truth that is being hidden from well-intentioned consumers who may have no idea how their ‘K-leather’ shoes are being made,” Polone said.

 “Nike can no longer hide its responsibility for this atrocity.”

Kangaroo leather trade

The film is also part of a global campaign, which came to life after raging bush fires engulfed parts of Australia and burned or displaced three billion animals, including millions of kangaroos.

While many people donated to help the koalas and kangaroos, most are unaware of the ongoing massacre of kangaroos for commercial use.

​ According to CHE, “more than two million kangaroos are shot each year in Australia. It’s the largest land-based commercial wildlife slaughter in the world, ten times larger and far bloodier than the notorious seal slaughter in Canada.”

It further adds that the “Australian government sanctions and subsidizes the hunts, with kangaroo meat going to pet food and the skins to manufacturers like Nike and adidas for “k-leather” soccer shoes.”

‘No need for it’

Last year,  CHE conducted a month-long investigation to reveal that more than 100 retailers and online stores-including Nike, Puma, and New Balance— were selling soccer shoes made with k-leather in violation of a 2016 California law.

While Nike, suspended the sale of its k-leather shoes following the investigation, it later resumed its sales.  

“Nike officials are not pulling the trigger, but they might as well be,” Wayne Pacelle, President of the Center for a Humane Economy said.

 “Using spotlights and night-vision rifle scopes, hired guns kill entire kangaroo families in the dead of night so they can sell the skins to the world’s best-known athletic shoe company.”

Pacelle added: “We’re no longer making hats from herons and egrets, we no longer decorate our living rooms with ivory trinkets, and we shouldn’t wear athletic shoes made from the skins of kangaroos.

 “There’s just no need for it. Every one of these companies already sells soccer cleats made from fabrics not stripped from the backs and bodies of wildlife.”

Stop the ‘archaic, inhumane, and unnecessary practice’

Sports stars also called out Nike’s for its inhumane association with the kangaroo mass slaughter.

Five Olympic athletes—including soccer gold medalist Heather Mitts, track-and-field gold medalist David Verberg, cycling silver medalist Dotsie Bauch, and record goalscorer Katie Rood wrote a letter to Nike urging the company to end its use of kangaroo skins.

 “We are athletes who’ve been fortunate to compete at the highest levels in our sports. We are also deeply concerned about the environment and the well-being of animals,” the letter read.

“We don’t treat sports as a cordoned-off enterprise set apart from the rest of the world and its swirl of social concerns. That means we care about the things we wear, the supply chain that allows them to be fabricated, and the precious world that we all inhabit with animals.

“Killing wild animals in their native environments to make shoes must end. It is an archaic, inhumane, and unnecessary practice.”

You can add your name to CHE’s petition asking Nike to save kangaroos from being made into soccer shoes here.

• Read: Kim Basinger urges Craigslist to end all animal abuse on its platform

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Mohsina Dodhiya

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