La vente des chaussures en kangourou interdite en Californie

La vente des chaussures en kangourou interdite en Californie

Cet article en anglais du Sydney Morning Herald est intéressant de
plusieurs points de vue. La plus remarquable c'est que le journaliste
impose SON point de vue, que les kangourous sont trop trop nombreux
surtout en période de sécheresse et que c'est un devoir national de
les tuer. (Le mot utiliser est "cull", qui veut dire kill mais dans
un sens écologique.)

California bars adidas from selling kangaroo shoes

July 24, 2007 - 2:08PM
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California's Supreme Court has barred athletic shoe maker adidas from
selling shoes made from kangaroo leather in the state, reversing a
lower court's decision.

California does not allow products made from kangaroo hide to be sold
or imported into the state, despite the fact they exist in near plague
proportions in drought-ravaged Australia and have to be culled.

Adidas had claimed that the state law conflicted with the aims of the
US Endangered Species Act, which sought to support Australian efforts
to control kangaroos.

"The bottom line is they've decided the California law is
constitutional," said Orly Degani, a lawyer for Viva! USA, an animal
rights group that first filed a lawsuit in 2003 challenging the sale
of kangaroo-skin shoes in the state.

"As of now, it is illegal to sell products made of kangaroos in
California."

A lawyer for the Humane Society of the United States, which filed a
"friend of the court" brief on behalf of plaintiffs Viva! USA, called
the court's decision "critically important" for species other than
just kangaroos - such as grizzly bears, bald eagles and wolves, which
are dependent on state protection.

"When the Federal Government decides not to protect a species, the
state can still do so," said HSUS counsel Jonathan Lovvorn, explaining
the ruling.

"What adidas was saying was when the Federal Government decides not to
protect a species, the state can't protect it either. That was
squarely rejected by the court."

A spokeswoman for adidas wrote in an email that the company expects to
ultimately prevail in the matter, but did not clarify further. Other
legal matters related to the case now will be sent back to the appeals
court.

Meanwhile, a bill that would overturn California's ban is working its
way through the state legislature.

"Although adidas makes some shoes using kangaroo leather, a common
practice in our industry, adidas does not make shoes from any
endangered or threatened kangaroo species," said the adidas
spokeswoman Andrea Corso.

The Supreme Court's decision reversed a victory for defendants adidas
and retailers Sports Chalet and Offside Soccer last year when they won
their appeal of the lawsuit brought by Viva! USA.

Reuters