The World Animal Protection, Lega Anti Vivisection (LAV), and Eurogroup for Animals argue for a prohibition of using kangaroo meat asserting that the hunting provokes “serious ethical and animal welfare problems.” According to the petition, the annual quotas for commercial slaughters depend on “gross overestimates.”
The European Commission stated in December: “The EU does not have harmonized import requirements regarding animal welfare for the category of wild animals, to which kangaroos belong.”
Referring to a report on Australia’s meat exports mandated in 2019, Brussels stated that Australia conforms to the EU’s import requirements. The European Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius, decides that the ban will not be enforced since there was no evidence.
Some European pet food producers utilize kangaroo meat for raw food or as a low-fat alternative protein.
The Coalition for Australian Wildlife has established a petition on Change.org appealing for the import ban on kangaroo meat to European Commissioners Stella Kyriakides and Valdis Dombrovskis. 54,500 people have already signed.
In 2022, the Dutch Party for the Animals has already pleaded for a European prohibition. Rejecting the killing of wild animals for commercial objects, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has deleted any kangaroo meat containing pet food from its online platform.
According to an announcement by the Australian pet food manufacturer Gully Road two years ago, the company has stopped selling kangaroo meat although it was extremely popular among its customers. This step shows that the pet food industry thinks these animals deserve better.
Some time ago, the UK retailer Pets at Home eliminated all products based on kangaroo meat since that does not live up to its ethnical standards.
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