EU snubs petition to ban kangaroo meat imports

Animal protection and rights groups called for a Europe-wide ban citing animal welfare, species conservation, and health concerns.

A plea submitted by the World Animal Protection, Lega Anti Vivisection (LAV), and Eurogroup for Animals called for the ban of this Australian meat claiming that kangaroo hunting causes “serious ethical and animal welfare problems.”

The petition added that the yearly quotas for commercial slaughters are based on “gross overestimates.”

In December 2022, the European Commission said: “The EU does not have harmonized import requirements regarding animal welfare for the category of wild animals, to which kangaroos belong.”

Regarding food safety, Brussels noted that Australia complies with the EU’s import requirements citing an audit report commissioned in 2019 on Australia’s meat export practices on red and game meat.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for the Environment, ruled that there was no evidence pointing to the EU import requirements not being met; hence the ban would not be implemented.

Kangaroo meat is used by some European pet food manufacturers as a low-fat protein and for raw pet food.

More appeals

The Coalition for Australian Wildlife also raised a petition on Change.org calling upon the European Commissioners Stella Kyriakides and Valdis Dombrovskis to halt kangaroo meat imports. To date, 54,500 signatures have been raised.

In the Netherlands, the Party for the Animals called for the Dutch government to push for a European ban on the import of kangaroo products in 2022.

Production and sales

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) removed pet food containing kangaroo meat from its e-commerce platform in 2022, claiming that it is opposed to killing wild animals for commercial purposes.

In 2021, Australian pet food producer Gully Road announced it was no longer selling kangaroo meat even though it was its biggest seller, suggesting that the pet food industry drives considerable portions of kangaroo culling and that the mammals deserve better.

The UK’s biggest pet products retailer, Pets at Home, also revealed a while ago that it would no longer sell kangaroo meat as it does not meet its ethical standards.

Jochebed Menon