Sale of Kangaroos in Texas Sparks Outrage on Social Media

An undated photo of baby kangaroos called joeys in Mount Pleasant, Texas. Tri Lakes Exotics/Facebook

Animal rights activists have criticized a Texan woman for selling baby kangaroos for thousands of dollars on social media.

Wildlife breeder Cathy Cranmore has received so many angry messages and phone calls she has been forced to delete a social media post with a photo of six baby kangaroos and text advertising male and female joeys for sale in Mount Pleasant, 110 miles east of Dallas.

“Kangaroo, kangaroo, kangaroo boy have we got them,” she said in a Facebook post that has since been deleted. “These are some of the cutest little babies you have ever seen, real cuddlers. Neutered males $2,500, females $5,000. Call Don or Cathy.”

Miami Beach-based Hurricane Pets Rescue (HPR) questioned the legitimacy of Cranmore’s post.

“I came across this post on Facebook and trying to make heads and tails of this. Is this even legal to do in Texas?” HPR said on Facebook. “[I] am afraid these animals will end up in the hands of very clueless people or in the black market. These animals belong in the wild not as pets in houses with people.”

The marsupials can grow up to 6.5 feet tall and weigh as much as 199 pounds when fully mature, requiring a significant amount of living space. They cannot be house trained and Cranmore’s indoor photos show the joeys wearing baby diapers.

One Facebook user believed Cranmore should be reported to authorities for her actions.

“These poor animals should not be for sale, [they] belong in the wild and not raised in captivity,” Trish Martin said. “Poor sweet lil' ones, turn these people in.”

However, police are unlikely to take any drastic action even if a complaint is lodged because no law prohibits owning a kangaroo in Texas, according to the Daily Mail.

One supporter believes Cranmore is acting within the law because she is a licensed veterinarian.

“She’s been legitimately licensed for decades, works with those species [and runs] breeding programs stateside [to] keep animals from being taken from the wild,” Cory Freeman said. “While everyone thinks they should be ‘in the wild’ perhaps we look from a different perspective for a moment ... maybe we should work first on saving the wild they should be living in? How ‘bout less people, less subdivisions, less garbage, less pollution in our oceans, [and] more nature.”

Cranmore describes herself as a “small and exotic veterinarian” and openly states she raises zebras, camels, kangaroos, wallaroos, black bucks, miniature donkeys, appaloosa llamas, and fallow deer.

She has since taken her company Facebook page offline.