Chasing Roo
Chasing Roo
New Film "Chasing Roo" Provides Undeniable Proof Commercial Kangaroo Industry is Inhumane
WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, August 14, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The just-released "Chasing Roo,” a documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Skye Fitzgerald, provides incontrovertible evidence that Australia's commercial kangaroo killing industry systematically fails to follow the most minimal humane standards, directly contradicting Australian government claims made to U.S. lawmakers and other key stakeholders about the unregulated nighttime shoots of kangaroo families. The documentary reveals that the world's largest commercial kill of land-based wildlife, which claims approximately 1.2 million adult kangaroos annually and an additional 400,000 joeys, routinely violates Australia's own National Code of Practice which requires kangaroos be killed by a single shot to the head. Animal welfare groups have called that code “a hollow set of promises with no oversight and no enforcement mechanisms.”"The evidence revealed in ‘Chasing Roo’ strips away the spin of so-called humane treatment by the Australian government and the kangaroo-shooting industry for the skin trade,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “This is a government and industry that are in cahoots, and the in-the-field actions are built on cruelty and deception, with animals routinely subjected to agonizing deaths in clear violation of the country's protocols.”
"Chasing Roo" parallels the stories of kangaroo shooters who make a living from killing kangaroos, their bodies sold for skin and pet food, and wildlife rescuers and veterinary specialists who dedicate their lives to saving the animals. In one gut-wrenching scene in the film, a kangaroo shooter cuts off the paws and feet of a kangaroo while he is alive and hangs him on a truck. “We’ll keep going and we’ll gut him up later. We’ll let him die,” he says. The wounded animal then lifts himself, vainly attempting to escape the leg hold. The film scene can be viewed here. “Chasing Roo” was released on Amazon Prime in July.
The film's evidence contradicts Australian government lobbying efforts in the United States, where officials have repeatedly claimed to U.S. members of Congress who are considering outlawing kangaroo imports with the Kangaroo Protection Act, that the kangaroo harvest is conducted humanely. “The United States should not be complicit in this open-air butchery of native wildlife,” said Pacelle. “It’s time to end this trade once and for all."
The film’s release is timely and comes as the Kangaroo Protection Act gains momentum in Congress thanks to a spate of global athletic shoe brands that have committed to halt sourcing of skins from the marsupials for soccer shoes. The bipartisan legislation, most recently introduced as S. 2162 and H.R. 1992 in 2025, would prohibit the sale or trade of kangaroo and kangaroo parts in the United States. The bill establishes federal crimes related to commercial activities involving kangaroo products, with violators subject to civil and criminal penalties.
“The mass killing of millions of kangaroos to make commercial products is needless and inhumane—and we must do better,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and lead author of the Senate legislation.
“We must take action to conserve the kangaroo species and end their inhumane exploitation,” added Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who is the co-lead of that legislation. “This legislation will ensure that no one in the United States can distribute kangaroo products for commercial benefits.” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., are the lead authors of the companion legislation in the House.
The Center for a Humane Economy has been exposing the cruelty of the commercial hunt through its Kangaroos Are Not Shoes campaign—successfully convincing the largest athletic wear companies in the world to stop using kangaroo leather in soccer cleats—a practice that drove the annual kill of kangaroos for their skin. “We have long battled the spin of the kangaroo killing industry and the Australian government’s protection of it,” said Jennifer Skiff, director of international programs for the Center for a Humane Economy. “Now we have undeniable proof that shooters disregard protocols. The government calls the kill humane. It’s the antithesis of humane. The government and industry are spreading outright falsehoods to members of Congress.”
Adding to the controversy, while the Australian government claims kangaroo populations have reached "pest" levels requiring commercial culling, recent statistics reveal that shooters consistently fail to meet state-imposed killing quotas. Experts argue this shortfall exists because kangaroo populations are not abundant enough to sustain the quotas, directly contradicting government assertions of overpopulation.
“Chasing Roo,” filmed in June and July 2023 in the states of Queensland and New South Wales also exposes the appalling mistreatment of joeys, with Australia's Commercial Code mandating that any young kangaroos found in the pouches of shot mothers be killed by decapitation or blows to the head. An estimated 400,000 joeys are killed annually as a result of the commercial harvest, yet shooters receive no training and leave the young to die. A clip from the film proves this.
Georgie Purcell is a member of Parliament from Victoria, Australia and has travelled to Capitol Hill to counter the claims made by the Australian government to members of Congress. “The commercial kangaroo killing industry in Australia is unregulated, unmonitored, and incredibly cruel,” she said. “It is vital for international politicians to send a message to Australia and condemn this brutal program that risks shooting our kangaroos into extinction.”
Companies Adidas, Nike, Puma, Diadora, and Sokito have ended their use of kangaroo leather following sustained advocacy efforts highlighting the industry's inhumane practices. New Balance, ASICS, and Umbro have committed to ending in 2025-26.
Wayne Pacelle
Animal Wellness Action
+ +1 443-865-3600
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