Dog Wars App Running Under New Name
The Los Angeles Police Department’s officers union has joined animal protection groups and outraged citizens in saying that the Dog Wars phone app that’s being marketed on Google’s Android Marketplace needs to be taken off the market, once and for all.
Last week, Dog Wars was removed from the Android Marketplace by its makers, Kage Games. But yesterday it was back again under a different name, KG Dogfighting, and available for Android phones.
Police officers call it “sick, disgusting”
Paul M. Weber, head of the LAPD officers union told the Los Angeles Times that renaming the app “does not make it any less sick, disgusting or appalling.”
“The entire concept is repulsive and sickening,” Weber said. “It is absolutely the wrong message to send to our children. We once again call on Google to follow the lead of Apple and ban this game from its website and all products they sell. Doing anything short of voluntarily banning the game from its products shows that Google is willing to put profit over public safety.”
KG Dogfighting enables people to train a virtual pit bull to fight other virtual dogs and build street cred that “puts money in your pocket and lets you earn more in fights.”
Police note that the app gives the player a “gun for police raids and can inject the dog with steroids.”
Google, which owns Android, has remained largely silent, calling into question for many people its company motto, “Don’t Be Evil.”
Last week, a Google spokesperson said the reason the app had been removed was due to “a trademark infringement complaint.” This explains the renaming, but says nothing about any plan on the part of Google to get the app off of its Android Marketplace once and for all.
Change.org has created a petition to get the app off the market.
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Has Android Pulled Its Dog Wars App?