dizzygizzy 
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(3/3/06 1:26 pm)
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California court to rule on Adidas Kangaroo-skin shoes:NGO
Friday March 3, 4:46 PM
California court to rule on Adidas kangaroo-skin shoes: NGO
California's top court has agreed to hear a case charging German sportswear giant Adidas with violating state law by selling kangaroo-skin soccer shoes, an environmental group said.
Vegetarians International Voice for Animals (VIVA), based in Britain, filed a civil suit in San Francisco in 2003 charging Adidas with blatantly ignoring a state ban on the sale of products made from kangaroos or other endangered animals.
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer urged the state supreme court to review the case after it was tossed out by a lower court on the grounds it conflicted with US government cooperation with Australian kangaroo conservation efforts.
"We look at this as an international corporation based in Germany violating California law while helping wipe out kangaroos in Australia," Lauren Ornelas of VIVA's office in Davis, California, told AFP.
"The number of kangaroos is dropping, and the animals are being killed with extreme cruelty."
Hunters shoot the kangaroos at night, when it is difficult to distinguish which are protected by Australian law, according to VIVA.
If there are baby "joeys" in dead mothers' pouches, hunters are allowed to decapitate them or bludgeon them to death, Ornalas said.
"Kangaroos are wildlife, not shoes," she said. "Adidas needs to get in step with the times and use synthetic materials for all their shoes."
A hearing date has not yet been scheduled.
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