CARREFOUR BELGIUM STOPS SELLING KANGOUROU MEAT

Brussels, January 10, 2020 - After a year of campaigning, GAIA has managed to convince Carrefour Belgium:

"In recent days, we have done everything we can to convince Belgian supermarkets to stop selling kangaroo meat.
And with success: this Thursday, after an express GAIA operation - and an unprecedented mobilization of our members - Carrefour Belgium decided to stop selling kangaroo meat ", explains Ann De Greef, director of the Belgian organization for the defense of animals.
GAIA invites Makro, Match and Cora supermarkets to follow suit and calls on the Belgian government to suspend, at least temporarily, the kangaroo meat trade.
"Because even now, while Australia is ravaged by unprecedented fires, kangaroos are victims of particularly cruel hunting methods," said Ann De Greef.
GAIA launched its "Save the Kangaroos" campaign last year. By revealing the particularly cruel conditions in which kangaroos are hunted, the animal rights organization quickly convinced Delhaize to permanently remove kangaroo meat from their shelves.
"The fires ravaging Australia are an unprecedented environmental crisis.
With more than 1 billion animals dead, the real cost of living becomes insurmountable, "warns Ann De Greef, director of GAIA. “Despite this, the Australian government continues to hunt kangaroos.
For consumption, but also because he wrongly continues to consider this totem animal as a pest. "

First world importer

Each year in Australia, around 1.6 million kangaroos are hunted and killed in an extremely cruel manner.
This makes the kangaroo the most hunted wild animal species in the world.
Belgium holds its share of responsibility: in 2016, our country imported more than 632 tonnes of kangaroo meat, which is equivalent to around 180,000 (!) Kangaroos.
"This makes our country the largest importer of kangaroo meat in the world, when there is no need or interest to consume so-called" exotic "meat," insists Ann De Greef.
In his own country, Australia, kangaroos are both seen as a "pest" to exterminate and as a source of lucrative profits for the government and the meat industry.
The result is a particularly cruel kangaroo hunt, without any respect for animal welfare.
"With the exception of the state of Victoria, where kangaroo hunting has been temporarily suspended due to fires, the Australian government is actively promoting kangaroo hunting.
No one knows how much is left, ”explains De Greef.
And to insist: "Some animals literally fight for their survival.
In places like Kangaroo Island - a true natural sanctuary for these animals - there are no kangaroos left.
This is why we call on the Belgian government to suspend, at least temporarily, imports of kangaroo meat into Belgium. "

Makro, Match and Cora: accomplices of an organized cruelty

Forest fires are a disaster for animals.
It is estimated that more than a billion animals have died as a result of the fires today.
"Carrefour Belgium's decision may seem small in the light of events, but it is a step in the right direction.
We hope that Makro, Match and Cora will have the same reflex, because whatever they say, by marketing kangaroo meat, these chains participate in an organized cruelty, "concludes Ann De Greef.

On www.viandedekangourou.be, GAIA invites citizens to sign a petition demanding a ban on the trade of kangaroo meat in our country.