Mike Vick rips dogfighting app,;agrees to be in documentary
Michael Vick is speaking out against a cell phone application that he feel glorifies dogfighting. Called “Dog Wars”, the app lets players feed, water, train and fight their virtual dogs against others. Vick and the Humane Society have both spoken out against “Dog Wars”, which is designed by Kage Games and runs on Google Inc.’s Android software.
Source: | (AHN Sports) | Reporter: | John Nestor |
Location: | Philadelphia, PA, United States | Published: | April 26, 2011 01:11 pm EDT |
Topics: | Sports, American Football, National Football League |
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Called “Dog Wars”, the app lets players feed, water, train and fight their virtual dogs against others.
Vick and the Humane Society have both spoken out against “Dog Wars”, which is designed by Kage Games and runs on Google Inc.’s Android software.
“I’ve come to learn the hard way that dogfighting is a dead-end street,” Vick said in a statement released Monday. “Now, I am on the right side of this issue, and I think it’s important to send the smart message to kids, and not glorify this form of animal cruelty, even in an Android app.”
Dog Wars has players condition dogs to fight, which the Humane Society feels could serve as a sort of how-to manual.
“This game may be a virtual training ground for would-be dogfighters. Its timing and message are all wrong,” Humane Society president Wayne Pacelle said.
Kage Games defended its app, declaring that “It is just A VIDEO GAME. Perhaps one day we will make gerbil wars or beta fish wars for people who can’t understand fantasy role play games.”
After serving 18 months in prison on federal charges related to running a dogfighting operation in Virginia, Vick has worked with the Humane Society to share his anti-dog-fighting message at many schools
Vick is also in the news since he has reportedly agreed to submit to a documentary “chronicling his life.”
Bombo Sports & Entertainment plans to produce a 70-to-90-minute film, which would be released theatrically in Philly and other NFL cities at the start of the 2011 season.
“I am a dog owner, so this won’t be a sugar-coating,” Bombo CEO Bob Potter told Terry Lefton and Eric Fisher of SportsBusiness Journal, “but it should be a good film about an athlete who is fantastically talented and really polarizing at the same time.”