Students Protest "Call of Duty" Promotion of Cruelty March 24, 2009

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."

—Ryan!

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US Government Sending Tigers to a War Zone? July 24, 2008

No need to wonder if you misread the subject line; it's true. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a permit for a roadside zoo in North Carolina to send two tigers to the Baghdad Zoo in Iraq.

If you're like me, you probably need to pick your jaw up off the floor. I mean seriously, do you guys remember how media reported that when the war in Iraq began, hundreds of animals at the Baghdad Zoo were killed, stolen, eaten, stuffed, sold, or let loose by looters, or they escaped when mortar blasts damaged their cages? So why should the zoo be any safer now?

The roadside zoo in North Carolina isn't the best situation, obviously, but at least it's a hell-of-a-lot less likely someone is going to try to kill or eat the tigers in North Carolina.

We need you to take action! Write to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and ask them to reevaluate their decision and deny the permit to export two tigers to the Baghdad Zoo.

Thanks in advance for your help with this!

♥ Marta

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