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A few weeks ago I mentioned an animal rights group angry at the electronics chain Best Buy for selling a series of Hunting-related computer games. Now Last Chance for Animals has put up a web site called TargetTeachesKids2Kill.Com attacking Target for stocking similar software.
These games such as Deer Hunter, Big Game Hunter and Sportsman's Paradise typically put the player in a first person view of a woods with the objective being to track down and kill an animal such as a deer or bear. The games tend to feature photo-realistic graphics (often incorporating digitized video) and have proven extremely popular. Deer Hunter was the number one selling computer game in the country for many weeks, which is why Target and other stores stock them -- their customers want to buy them.
Last Chance for Animals objects to the software claiming, "All of these programs teach computer users, kids and adults alike, how to hunt and kill real animals." Yes, of course. And cookbook and recipe software, commonly available in the discount bins at such stores, also teach both kids and adults how to cook and eat dead animals. Should those be banned too? Will Last Chance for Animals soon register a domain like TargetTeachesKids2EatMeat.Com?
Last Chance for Animals goes beyond these claims to include charges that playing these games can contribute to everything from school shootings to gang violence, of course without providing any concrete evidence of any sort of causal connection. Their view is summed up by a quote the group includes from a Kenneth Stoller, MD:
How easy would it be for your children, or children you know, to commit an act of violence against another living creature if any authority asked them? Playing "Duck Hunt" (aka "Kill Ducks") on Nintendo that your parents gave you ... is not that far removed from bashing in the heads of helpless [animals] with your parents or scout leader egging you on.
Huh? I'd say the two situations differ vastly in both content and context. This is just a variation on the nonsensical idea that eating meat isn't that far removed from cannibalism and animal experimentation is equivalent to torture. Somebody really needs to wean these animal rights types from their arguments by analogy.
Fortunately Target doesn't seem likely to stop selling these computer games. Last Chance For Animals wrote Bob Ulrich, the chairman of Target's board of directors, but received a reply from Target Guest Relations to the effect that it's up to Target's customers -- not Last Chance for Animals -- to decide whether or not to buy a hunting game. Three cheers for Target.
Source:
Public Alert. Press Release, Last Chance For Animals, undated.