Kudos to U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., for introducing legislation to ban the sale of kangaroo parts in the United States and stem the killing of 1.5 million of the iconic marsupials per annum.
Demand for soccer cleats made from kangaroo skins is driving an unprecedented commercial slaughter of native wildlife. Last year, Nike, Puma and New Balance announced policies to stop sourcing kangaroo skins, but the world’s largest athletic shoe sellers, Adidas, is still driving the massacre of the iconic marsupials.
Australia’s backing of commercial slaughter of native wildlife is almost unique among developed nations. The U.S. does not allow the mass shooting of elk, bears, deer or other animals for use of their parts in global commerce. The only comparable case example is Canada’s harp and hooded seal kill for fur, and the U.S. already bans selling their skins under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
After the shooters kill the adults, they are instructed to bludgeon any joeys found near or in the pouches of their slain mothers. That toll alone is 300,000 joeys — larger than the seal hunt in Canada at its zenith decades ago.
Animal Wellness Action thanks Duckworth for leading this fight in the Senate (Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is co-sponsor of the legislation). U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., have the companion legislation in the House.
Wayne Pacelle, president, Animal Wellness Action, Washington, D.C.
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Pump the brakes on motorists’ sense of entitlement
Reader Robert Stasch, writing from O’Hare, a part of the city where cycling trips have grown the slowest, suggests that all cyclists should be relegated to side streets in the name of faster travel for drivers. But I ask: How freely did Chicago’s traffic flow before so many residents and visitors felt safe enough to leave their cars behind and ride a bike instead? And how law-abiding are the drivers who view cyclists as second-class citizens?
Nationally, drivers injure hundreds cyclists every day (I was one of those seriously injured many years ago), and nearly 1,000 cyclists are killed each year. The Chicago Municipal Code grants cyclists all the rights and responsibilities of drivers, but, thanks to the recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling in Clark Alave v. City of Chicago, cyclists are considered “intended” users of the road only where bike infrastructure, such as lanes and signage, is present. On all other roads, we are merely “permitted” users. And as for road maintenance, the average car causes roughly 10,000 times more damage to roads than a bicycle ever could.
When you also consider factors like public health, environmental impacts, the quarter of Chicago households that live car-free and the role cars and parking spaces play in exacerbating the affordable housing crisis, it becomes clear whose convenience is truly coming at a cost — and at whose expense.
Skylar Moran, Portage Park
Counsell strikes out over Imanaga
In the Sun-Times story about Shota Imanaga’s pitching gem last weekend, Cubs manager Craig Counsell remarked upon the difficulty of “coming to a better league.” Really? By any statistical measure, Imanaga’s performance with the Cubs has been much better than his performance with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. Wouldn’t this suggest that the competition in the National League is much easier to handle than what he faced in the Nippon Professional Baseball?
With the many great stars Japan produces, their victories in the World Baseball Classic and their brilliant player development system, it is particularly grating to read condescending remarks such as Counsell’s.
James Wade, Rogers Park
