Het beruchte dierenbeschermingsclubje PETA heeft weer een nieuwe stok om mee te slaan, want ze zijn niet zo heel erg blij dat er pitbulls in de game Mafia Wars zitten. Natuurlijk zijn deze honden erg zielig (heb er zelf hier ook één lopen) en worden deze dieren door slechte baasje verpest. Maar om dit in de aandacht te gaan brengen door een videogame aan te vallen gaat een beetje ver.

In a letter to Zynga founder and CEO Mark Pincus, PETA explains why the inclusion of animals like the pit bull in Mafia Wars is wrong.

"'Bully breeds' like your beloved late American bulldog, Zinga, are also the breeds of choice for dogfighters and thugs who want a 'macho' animal to intimidate others, guard their property, or make them money by winning fights. Every day, PETA staffers meet dogs who have been trapped for years at the end of heavy tractor-trailer chains with nothing but bare patches of dirt and plastic barrels for shelter. These dogs are usually full of heartworms, emaciated, and scarred all over. They are often physically abused and starved, sometimes to death, for losing in illegal dogfights or for being 'bad guards' or 'not mean enough.' The people who acquire them do so because they have been taught that having one of these dogs is 'cool' and 'tough,' but they have no idea about the care and feelings of the animal they have enslaved."