Barking mad animal rights groups are calling for a boycott of the online game Mafia wars over a scene that involves a dog fight. PETA claims that the game encourages crime because kids will think that it is ok to arrange dog fights. Never mind that the game is set in a world where it is OK to gun down humans to take criminal control of a town. Atrocities against our four-footed friends are apparently one crime too many.

In a letter to Mark Pincus, boss of Mafia Wars developer Zynga, PETA wrote, "Portraying dogs and other animals as nothing more than living weapons encourages people to abuse animals in real life."

According to PETA, dogs belonging to "bully breeds" are sometimes physically abused and starved by their owners, and punished for losing in illegal dogfights or not being aggressive 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," the organisation said.

"Will you please reconsider perpetuating the image of pit bulls and other animals as fighting machines in Mafia Wars and decide against sending a dangerous message that it's somehow acceptable to force animals to fight, keep them chained, and deny them everything that is natural and important to them?"

Zynga which makes the game has yet to respond. (Perhaps Zynga chose not to negotiate with terrorists. sub.ed.)