The California Supreme Court has banned the sale of kangaroo leather soccer cleats in a unanimous decision rejecting an argument by adidas that federal law pre-empts a California ban on the products. In the case, Viva International Voice of Animals argued that adidas was selling kangaroo derived products in contradiction to California Penal Code section 653o, which lists a series of animals including kangaroos, ocelots and others whose products cannot be sold in the state. The law was passed in 1970 and expanded in 1971 to include kangaroos.
adidas argued that since kangaroos have been removed from the federal endangered species list and that the federal government has no issue with selling kangaroo products, the State of California should not either.
The California Supreme Court sided with the letter of the law saying that “the plain language of the statute extends its scope to all kangaroos and does not depend on the vicissitudes of federal protection.”
