Written by PETA
You unplug my game, you die. That appears to have been the mentality of a 21-year-old man in Staunton, Virginia, who, according to reports, has been accused of killing his girlfriend's kitten by hurling the tiny animal against a wall after the kitten disconnected the video game he was playing. This allegedly happened while his girlfriend's children watched.
People who hurt animals are bullies and cowards, because they vent their rage, insecurity, and idiocy on the smallest and most defenseless beings available. What's more, numerous studies show that animal abusers often turn their violence against human victims.
Please write a polite letter to Commonwealth Attorney Douglas L. Guynn asking him to vigorously prosecute the case:
The Honorable Raymond C. Robertson Staunton Commonwealth Attorney’s Office21 N. New St.Staunton, VA 24402540-332-3976
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
Heads up, Pittsburgh: A menagerie of costumed wolves, rabbits, foxes, and other fake fauna are about to converge on your city.
And no, it has nothing to do with PETA.
Actually, it's all about Anthrocon—the world's largest "Furry" convention. OK, so if you don't know what a Furry is, I know you're dying to ask. In a nutshell, a Furry is a person who is totally into animal anthropomorphism (assigning animals human traits). I mean totally into it. We're talking loving fictional animal characters so much that they often wear mascot-like costumes of their fave animals (think Crayola-colored cheetahs in cargo pants).
Which is where PETA came into the picture. Don't get me wrong, we weren't trying to harsh their mellow. We just wanted to make sure that convention-going "Fursuiters"—as they like to be called—weren't parading around in the pelts of real animals. Here's the letter we sent to them:
Their response?
Dear Shawna: Real fur is frowned upon at all furry conventions, in the same sense that leaping in front of speeding locomotives is frowned upon at comic book conventions. Yours truly, Samuel Conway, Ph.D.Chairman and CEOAnthrocon, Inc.
Dear Shawna:
Real fur is frowned upon at all furry conventions, in the same sense that leaping in front of speeding locomotives is frowned upon at comic book conventions.
Yours truly,
Samuel Conway, Ph.D.Chairman and CEOAnthrocon, Inc.
Written by Amy Elizabeth
The following blog is a guest post from peta2's Ryan.
The fight against the Canadian seal slaughter has gone digital!
That's right, gamers, get ready: This Saturday, World of Warcraft (WoW) players will have the opportunity to combat a team of four Horde seal killers. We need your help to stop them from bashing in the heads of any more seals!
Thrall refused to ban the slaughter of seals, despite multiple requests from the Alliance to do so, because Orgrimmar stands to make a large profit from the fur.
Activists from across the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor are banding together to put a stop to the atrocious seal slaughter. Anyone who slaughters baby seals for their fur must surely be in service to the evil Lich King.
Here's what you need to know in order to battle:
Make sure to check out videos about the upcoming battle here, and use our Facebook event to get all your friends to join you in the fight. Be sure to check back for the battle coordinates.
Think you can stop the seal killers?
UPDATE: The battle will be taking place at coordinates 79, 73 on the southeastern coast of Howling Fjord, due south of the Explorers League Outpost.
Written by Ryan Huling
(Did all this WoW talk go right over your head? Don't be embarrassed—maybe you should just sit this round out and stick to helping seals on Facebook!)
Not since we were pitted against Nazi attack dogs when we first escaped from Castle Wolfenstein 17 years ago have we seen such barbaric treatment of dogs in video games as we did in Call of Duty, World at War. During the course of the game, you are forced to shoot attack dogs and you can actually unlock a "reward" that allows you to unleash a pack of attack dogs on enemies. In a post–Michael Vick world, you'd think that Activision Blizzard, which publishes the popular game, would take abusing dogs for entertainment purposes more seriously.
Fortunately, some students at a Massachusetts high school are not keeping quiet about their disgust with Activision. Breanna Lucci serves as president of the Animal Rights Club at the Academy of Notre Dame (NDA) in Tyngsborough. The following is from the Lowell Sun's interview with her (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."
"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."
To help the folks at Activision Blizzard learn about the ethical treatment of animals (something we're sorta experts on) we're offering to let them take PETA's "Developing Empathy for Animals" seminar free of charge, and we're sending a package of dog-friendly Nintendogs games to their office.
With a little Nintendogs influence, perhaps the next Call of Duty game will have you unlock achievements for petting the dogs you encounter and going on walks or playing Frisbee with them.
Source: GamePolitics.com
Written by Joel Bartlett
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If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.