The lawbook governing the state of Oregon consists of 19 volumes containing 688 chapters. Nowhere in that set of statutes鈥攖he product of nearly 164 years of statehood鈥攄oes the word 鈥渒angaroo鈥� appear.
That could change this year.
The Oregon Senate鈥檚 Judiciary Committee is considering that would create the crime of 鈥渦nlawful kangaroo exchange.鈥�
Lawmakers on the panel were somewhat bemused during a brief discussion this week.
鈥淚f we were to enforce this, would that have to happen in a kangaroo court?鈥� asked Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis, with her tongue planted firmly in her cheek.
鈥淚 bet we could bounce that (bill) over to the House,鈥� quipped Sen. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer.
But backers of the proposal are very serious about their efforts to ban the sale of 鈥渁ny part of a dead kangaroo or any product containing a part of a dead kangaroo,鈥� as currently reads.
There鈥檚 only type of product made from 鈥渄ead kangaroos鈥� that鈥檚 routinely sold in Oregon, said Scott Beckstead, director of campaigns for the Center for a Humane Economy.
That product is shoes.
Namely, soccer cleats made from kangaroo leather, first popularized in the 1970鈥檚 by elite players and now sold by many athletic apparel companies including Oregon-based Nike.
A ban would not be without precedent: California has prohibited the sale of kangaroo-based products for more than 50 years, though the that lawmakers there temporarily suspended the ban twice at the urging of the Australian government.
鈥淲e believe that it鈥檚 necessary to finally get a bill passed in Oregon ... so that Nike and other shoe manufacturers don鈥檛 have a welcome market for kangaroo skins in the state of Oregon,鈥� said Beckstead.
Nike did not respond to a request for comment for this story, but last month that it uses kangaroo leather in a 鈥渟mall portion鈥� of its soccer shoes and that it 鈥渨orks with leather suppliers that source animal skins from processors that use sound animal husbandry and humane treatment, whether farmed, domesticated, or wild managed.鈥�
A major industry down under
The commercial harvest of kangaroos in Australia is not only legal but encouraged by the federal government there.
鈥淣o adverse long-term impacts on kangaroo populations have been identified after more than 30 years of harvesting under commercial management plans,鈥� the Australia Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water .
According to the agency, more than 1.3 million kangaroos were commercially harvested in 2021, which it says is less than one-third of what it calls the 鈥渟ustainable quota,鈥� that is, the amount it says could be killed without putting any of the four main kangaroo species at risk.
The United States listed several types of kangaroo as 鈥渆ndangered鈥� from the mid-70鈥檚 until the mid-90鈥檚, but the animal is considered to have 鈥渞ecovered.鈥�
Kangaroos were also not included in in Oregon known as the 鈥淲ildlife Trafficking Prevention Act,鈥� which prohibited the importation and sale of products from a list of animals including elephants, whales and sea turtles.
That measure passed with nearly 70 percent of Oregonians voting in favor of it. Beckstead points to that support as a reason why a ban on the sale of products made from kangaroos should be approved by state lawmakers.
鈥淲e believe that it aligns with the history of humane values among most Oregonians that we should not be allowing the sale of products, and supporting this mass slaughter of kangaroos in Australia,鈥� he said.
Violators of the Oregon bill, which has not been scheduled for a hearing, could be charged with a misdemeanor and spend up to a year in jail or face a $6,250 fine.
The bill has not been scheduled for a hearing. A similar proposal was introduced this month by a state representative in Connecticut. A federal ban on kangaroo products , but was not approved.
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