Dog Wars Android App Outrages Animal Rights Activists

Dog Wars, a controversial new app for Android devices, pits virtual dogs against one another in simulated blood-fight scenarios.

The game requires the player to raise and train a digital dog that will fight against other players' dogs.

Real-world digfights are illegal in many countries around the world, including the Unites States.

Carter Luke, President of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Animal Medical Center, issued a statement condemning the game. Luke said,

Although illegal in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, dog fighting remains a pervasive problem in America and is investigated in Massachusetts by the MSPCA’s Law Enforcement department. Dog Wars is a sickening tool that can be used to recruit potential dogfighters about how to train future victims, perpetuate breed specific stereotypes, and undermine the many years of hard work that animal protection agencies, including the MSPCA-Angell, have contributed to ensure strong penalties against dog fighters and spectators.

Kage Games, the app's developer, has posted the following on the game's Android Market page:

1. It is just A VIDEO GAME
2. Perhaps one day we will make gerbil wars or beta fish wars for people who can't understand fantasy role play games
3. Just because something is illegal in real life in certain countries, does not mean it is illegal to make a song, movie, or video game about it (looking at you XDA Developer Forums... deleting our beta testing thread and banning our account?!)
4. Just go slingshot some virtual birds to kill some virtual pigs.

Kage also bills the app as "A GAME THAT WILL NEVER BE IN THE iPHONE APP STORE!!!," presumably because of Apple's stringent acceptance policies for the iTunes App Store.

While animal rights activists are speaking out against the game, Android Market customers have downloaded the app over 50,000 times and have given it a rating of four out of five stars.

How do you feel about the Dog Wars app? Weigh in using our Quick Poll (below).

Quick Poll

What do you think about the Dog Wars app?

It's appalling.

It's harmless.

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Comments

[Onutz]

09:17 PM on 04/28/2011

Wow, I guess there's something to be said about Apple's "walled garden" curating approach to App Stores.

[Mr Planeman]

04:09 PM on 04/30/2011

Yeah, it sucks. The community controlled model of the Android Market is much better.

[Judith Jaehn]

04:50 PM on 04/27/2011

This is absolutely despicable! It's, wrong, wrong, wrong!!!

[OdinsEye]

01:23 PM on 04/27/2011

Personally, I would prefer it if this app were removed. I am not a big fan of things which glorify violence or animal cruelty.

[Mr Planeman]

04:27 PM on 04/30/2011

Give up all your elelctronics then, mass amounts of content on the internet and TV glorify violence

[OdinsEye]

05:11 PM on 04/30/2011

One need not gve up all electronics, just not endorse or use shows, games, or other content which glorify violence or cruelty. There is plenty of media out there which does not glorify violence or cruelty.

[rockyroad]

01:03 PM on 04/27/2011

Those who are become addicted to the thrill of killing on-line will become detached and seek a greater rush by chasing their initial rush in real life . . . it's the nature of addiction . . .

"According to a 1997 study done by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and Northeastern University, animal abusers are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against people and four times more likely to commit property crimes than are individuals without a history of animal abuse."

Read more: Pet-Abuse.Com - Abuse Connection - The Link Between Animal Cruelty and Interpersonal Violence http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/abuse_connection.php#ixzz1Kk9juE2J

It's well known that serial killers often have a history of brutally killing animals long before they embark upon their murderous rampages against humans. Check out the LINK.

http://www.crimecasefiles.com/forum/diagnosis-of-categories-and-symptoms/29-the-link-between-animal-abuse-and-serial-killers.html

[jimbo222]

09:11 AM on 04/27/2011

And actually Angry Birds is VERY different. How often in life do you launch birds at pigs using a slingshot? And even more so, how often do the birds have the abilities of bombs or boomerangs? The answer is, probably never. But how often are dogs raise and trained to fit to the death? Far too often.

[jimbo222]

07:59 AM on 04/27/2011

The difference between a game like this and GTA is that everyone knows that killing people is wrong and there are serious reprecusions. A lot of people don't seem to look at dog fighting the same way. They think they can get away with it, and they have the advantage of controlling the dogs and taking advantage of them. If Michael Vick was killing people and hanging people from trees, I am pretty sure he would have gotten caught and thrown in jail much sooner, but since it was dog fighting, he got away with it for far too long. Look at all of the disgusting people involved in his dog fighting group of friends that also thought it was "ok".

[Mr Planeman]

01:10 AM on 04/30/2011

Well instead of shutting down the virtual fights, maybe educate those you feel are so at risk, and let the rest of us watch a health bar slowly disappear... That is all you see when you enter a fight by the way, they don't depict the dogs tearing each other a part or even describe how the dogs are fighting...

It's all about education people... Educate the children the way my parents educated me: tell them in no way is it right to mimic a video game (except maybe Madde,n or MLB, NBA, etc)

[Gemcg]

04:21 AM on 04/27/2011

He is right. Angry Birds is not much different except you actually sacrifice the bird to get the pig.

[Chad Wheeler]

02:06 PM on 04/27/2011

No, he is wrong. There isn't a problem in this country with people abusing birds by throwing them at pigs. There is, however, a problem in this country with people abusing dogs by throwing them into a ring to fight.

[French Toast]

12:40 AM on 04/27/2011

It should be taken off the Android market. Know what else is "just a game"? Custer's Revenge and Ethnic Cleansing.

They're just trying to make a buck off of being deplorable. I give them no respect for their efforts or their tactics.

[Bill Akell]

07:47 PM on 04/26/2011

SICK, DISGUSTING, APPALLING! How can one not think (Cameron) that by playing these sick, twisted games that it's not conveying a message that it's alright to actually play these games in real time. Sure you can smoke or eat yourself to death but that's your own doing, to yourself, no one else involved. You do something (even in a "game") to someone or some other living creature and that's where it all changes. It's not right, it's not right, it's not right!
Dogs are man's best friend, they are smart, have feelings, and most would do anything for you. We should do anything for them. These "games" desensitize players and make it o.k. and "fun". They don't get that fantasy/real life difference. There's a fine line it seems between the two for some people and we should not allow such sh-t to become "game", even though it's "just a game" it still teaches by example. This society is on a downhill roll if this is what we have to teach.
Love your animals, your pets, the stray that was left behind, whatever animal in need. Help them and you help yourself.

[seachange525]

08:51 PM on 04/26/2011

Proud to be fan #2. You said so beautifully what I wanted to say. Thank you. It's nice to share the planet with you :)

[ckdogs]

07:45 PM on 04/26/2011

Kids are impressionable, and dog fighting is a serious problem in most cities. Look at all the dog shelters, and you'll find a plethora of pit bulls that no one wants to adopt - collateral damage from dog fighting. A game that makes it reasonable and okay to fight dogs just adds a layer of respectability to a cruel sport. Young people who enjoy watching dogs kill each other, and torturing dogs to make them fierce, do not need this "game". It should be banned.

[afdconsult]

08:10 PM on 04/26/2011

You hit the real issue in the impact on kids that might get with friends and try this

[Brenda Wright]

08:48 PM on 04/26/2011

I agree. I volunteer in one of those shelters. Anyone who thinks people, especially children, are not impacted by these "games" are living in a bigger fantasy world than the games. Dog fighting is a horrendous, cruel, demented actvity (NOT A SPORT!) that needs only the kind of attention that can educate and put end to its existance. I can't believe that anyone who truly knows what dog fighting encompasses could find even an app like this harmelss or acceptable.

[BraceWinslow]

07:32 PM on 04/26/2011

The news this morning reported that Obabma is going to put a halt to oil drilling in the State of Texas because the areas to drill in are threatening the desert lizard, a supposedly lizard on the endangered list. That should put gas prices up to around $6 bucks a gallon. Keep going, Obama, you have your hand on the toilet handle to flush yourself next year.

[gleitz05]

08:03 PM on 04/26/2011

What does your comment have to do with this storyline? I suggest you delete this post of yours.

[BraceWinslow]

12:42 AM on 04/27/2011

Apparently, you are not intelligent enough to understand, but I will explain it as a teacher would. See, these animal rights wackos are responsible also for getting to Obama to stop drilling in areas of Texas where the desert lizard lives. I was simply showing what the rightists do to put people out of jobs and cause the price of gas to accelerate. Now, do you understand? Probably not.

[tedpikul]

02:23 AM on 04/27/2011

Fiction.

[SuperBenFranklin]

06:53 PM on 04/26/2011

So training dogs to fight is bad, but kids? Send them to karate classes, hockey, football and boxing, and cheer them on!

[pogopogo1]

09:41 PM on 04/26/2011

The kids aren't being trained to rip each other to pieces.
That comes later, when they are drafted into or enlist in the military.
Research shows that sociopaths start off by torturing and killing animals before graduating to human beings. Our popular culture seems to be encouraging psychopathy by desensitizing us to the pain of others: animals and humans.

[Mr Planeman]

06:39 PM on 04/29/2011

"The kids aren't being trained to rip each other to pieces."

Uhm... Isn't that the goal of combat sports like boxing and karate?

[Chad Wheeler]

02:12 PM on 04/27/2011

Please let me know when a) those sports result in certain death for those kids involved b) when innocent kids who do NOT want to participate are kidnapped from their houses and sacrificed to those who do want to participate c) when those sports are outlawed. After that happens, then we can talk but at this point you are comparing apples to oranges.

[Mr Planeman]

06:47 PM on 04/29/2011

"...then we can talk but at this point you are comparing apples to oranges."

When you compare things, you note BOTH similarities and differences. In boxing, two humans get into a ring and punch the shit out of each other with the goal of knocking the other unconscious (and very rarely unintentionally killing their opponent). In dog fighting, two dogs, forced by humans get into a ring to bite and claw each other up each trying to force the other into submission or death.

The two are similar in the intent of watching two combatants beat and bloody each other, but they are different in that the dogs are forced into it...

[rationalitymatters]

06:42 PM on 04/26/2011

Just because it's a virtual dog fight doesn't mean it isn't meant to do the following: (I'll copy their stupid, disingenuous format).
1. It can be used as a tool to recruit and train prospective DOG FIGHTERS.
2. It can excite a blood lust to want to participate in the real thing.
3. It's a cruel activity designed to appeal to cruel people by a cruel app creater.
4. Therefore, it is not harmless.
It just proves yet again how sick certain individuals are.

[Cameron Heikkinen]

07:42 PM on 04/26/2011

Creator - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/creator

Threat neutralized.

[rationalitymatters]

10:35 PM on 04/26/2011

This guy is a Martin Sheen wannabe. (Pathetic, isn't it, but not surprising.) Oh, and by the way, in one of your prior posts, you had the word "companies." It would be "company's" idea of fun, not companies idea of fun. Now instead of feigning incomprehension because somebody misspelled a word, why don't you deal with your own incomprehensible and reprehensible logic.

[Onyx Wolf]

06:21 PM on 04/26/2011

So if it's ok because it's not real, then having games where the players can rape little kids should be ok too. After all, they aren't real little kids, right?

It's sickening that people outright don't care if someone {animals or humans} are hurt and killed. The creator of this game is no better than someone that physically raises the dogs to kill. He doesn't care about the living ones and uses how the game wouldn't be accepted in the Apple store as some sort of rallying cry for freedom.
Being free doesn't make it ok to do whatever you want, regardless of who gets hurt.

[Mr Planeman]

05:24 PM on 04/29/2011

"So if it's ok because it's not real, then having games where the players can rape little kids should be ok too. After all, they aren't real little kids, right?"

You know there are tons of Flash Games all over the internet like that. Why not look some up, then spend your time attacking the programmers of them?

[mizhellfire]

05:35 PM on 04/26/2011

This is a sick, disgusting game, and anyone who gets pleasure from playing it is sick in the head as well. Oh, and Frankerin, people who condone animal cruelty, even a virtual version of it, are not only despicable, but also a nuisance.