Kangaroo Boxing Upsets Animal Rights Activists

Published : Friday, 05 Mar 2010, 2:56 PM EST
Chelsea White
(Daily Telegraph of Sydney) - A boxing kangaroo – complete with striped shorts and boxing gloves – who has been trading jabs with his clownsuit-wearing owner in a Texas ring has PETA ready to throw a few punches itself, The Daily Telegraph of Sydney reported in its Saturday edition.
The scene of the marsupial vs. man match is BorderFest in Hidalgo, Texas, billed as a celebration of all things Australian.
In one corner is Rocky the kangaroo (or occasionally another of his brethren), dressed to brawl in knee-length shorts and with a rope tied around his chest.
In the other corner is his owner, Javier Martinez, who wears a clownsuit.
Martinez and Rocky race around the ring, trading shoves and jabs. If Rocky gets too enthusiastic, Martinez’ wife, Sandra, restrains him via a tether attached to the harness around his chest.
On Friday, Martinez defended his act. "You cannot force a kangaroo to do nothing," he said. "(Kangaroos) only do what they want to do so we don't make them work, you work around them."
But the animal rights group PETA wants them both out of the ring.
PETA's Asia-Pacific senior campaigner Ashley Fruno Friday called for a boycott of kangaroo acts. "Being forced to participate in these tawdry shows is cruel and can cost kangaroos their lives," Fruno said.