Students Protest "Call of Duty" Promotion of Cruelty March 24, 2009
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Nobody likes video games more than us at peta2. So as you can imagine, we—along with gamers worldwide—were thrilled to see the release of the latest installment in the Call of Duty series last winter.
That is, until we actually sat down to play the game, which requires players to shoot dogs, and even offers the opportunity to unlock the "reward" of releasing a pack of attack dogs on enemies. I don't know about you, but in a world that already has so much cruelty to dogs and other animals, this is not exactly the way I'd prefer to spend my evenings.
Thankfully, we aren't alone. As the Lowell Sun is reporting, students at the Academy of Notre Dame high school are so outraged by the promotion of cruelty to animals in the game that they launched a petition to the Call of Duty publishers, Activision, which already has more than 100 signatures on it.
When asked why she wanted to make this issue public, the student animal rights group president, Breanna, told the paper (via GamePolitics.com):
"Killing dogs as a form of entertainment ... over and over again. That's one of the objects of the game," says Lucci, 19, a senior at NDA. "Parents need to know what they are buying their kids. Killing animals should not be a form of entertainment."
...
"My little 12-pound Pomeranian, Winnie the Pooh, is sitting next to [Lucci's brother as he plays the game], and I'm thinking, 'This looks horrible!'" Lucci says.
Lucci then adds, "My brother is a sweetheart. He won't be killing dogs after playing. But some people might."
We couldn't agree more.
What do you think? Post your comments below!
Comments
My apologies for double posting but after reading this part again:
"Parents need to know what they are buying their kids."
I had to laugh because the game is rated M for mature. Contains content that is more suitable for people the age of 17 and above.
I'm sorry but now I feel this is the same stupid argument in which kids could be playing and that we need to protect the children. If a parent is so concerned about what their child is playing read the darn rating on the box, learn to use parental controls, and monitor what comes into the house.
As for possible crazy people if we started protesting things because its promoting possible violence then I'm sorry everything should be protested.
Posted by: Pepsi One is Fun at March 24, 2009 5:33 PMI find that really upsetting that cod would do that.
Even tough it is a game, its still very upsetting.
100% agreed
Posted by: katie at March 24, 2009 8:32 PMThis is a little extreme. First of all, the use of dogs in the video game is based on historical fact on events that occurred in WWII. Second, this game is rated Mature, meaning that kids under the age of 18 should not be playing this game. Third, it hasn't been proven that violent video games leads people to violent actions. Fourth, the dogs in the video game are trying to rip your throat out! I've supported PETA in almost every aspect, but I will not support them on this issue. I love COD and will continue playing it.
Posted by: Cassandra at March 25, 2009 4:31 AMi totally disagree tbh. yes, its wrong to kill dogs. but in Call Of Duty you also kill humans, which is wrong too. so in that case the whole game should be banned, and so should all games that involve killing anything. kids that play Call of Duty are as likely to kill dogs in real life as they are to kill people.
Posted by: Lottiee at March 25, 2009 2:04 PMi really don't like this game anyway but now i have even more reason not to. My brothers are addicted, it can't be healthy! they need to make games like this banned.
Posted by: emily smith at March 25, 2009 8:14 PM@Emily
Slippery slope Emily. Ban one thing because potential crazies might arise and then you would have to ban everything.
Well, I was kinda appalled to hear about this. I only read this article a few days ago, and was horrified about it. But this morning, In one of my literature classes, a group of guys who are constantly talking about this 'COD' actually began laughing at this concept in particular. I've never spoken to them before, nor have I ever want to, nor will I ever again - but you can be sure as hell I turned round and gave them a few choice words about it all.
People should limit what they put in games!
i think that video games cause people to go violent. it teaches young kids that killing something leads to a reward or prise. and i know that nobody actually thinks that will happen in real life, but kids spend hours of day playing these games that they get uesd to murder. it anables them to act CRAZY
Posted by: mir-mir at March 28, 2009 4:26 PMdang thats sad. i wont buying that game
Posted by: Summer at March 30, 2009 1:57 PMIm glad that i sent my piece of mind into peta2 about this subject in particular.
A lot of my friends play COD, and when i saw him shoot the dogs in the head and legs without killing it, even when the dog jumped up at the player you can hold it by the head and break the dogs neck.
this game makes me feel sick to my stomach
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Unless the number of animal abuse incidents caused by Call of Duty outweigh the amount of sane people who just realize its a game I see no problem in it.
The wonderful part is that if someone is crazy enough to kill a dog because of a video game they win a trip to a special place called jail.
And also hate the history in which Call of Duty is trying to say realistic to. They used dogs for that very reason in World War 2. So once again hate the history, not the game.
Posted by: Pepsi One is Fun at March 24, 2009 5:21 PM