PETA wants Amazon.com to stop selling books such as 'The Art of Cockfighting.'
The animal rights group PETA wants Amazon.com to stop selling books about dogfighting and cockfighting, saying the books encourage an illegal and harmful activity the way a recently removed title promoted pedophilia.
PETA said it sent a letter Friday to Amazon.com President Jeffrey P. Bezos, asking him to to pull products from the site that promote animal cruelty in light of the online retailer's decision this week to stop selling an e-book that offered guidelines to pedophilia.
"The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure" was pulled from Amazon.com late Wednesday, after thousands of angry users posted reviews to the listing condemning its publication and vowing to boycott the site.
PETA pointed out two books on Amazon.com, "The Art Of Cockfighting—A Handbook for Beginners and Old Timers" and "Dogs of Velvet and Steel," as examples of titles that encourage people to participate in illegal animal fighting.
"These books encourage people to become involved in dogfighting and cockfighting— cruel and illegal activities that are rampant across the country," PETA executive vice president Tracy Reiman said in the letter to Bezos.
"Animals, like children, depend on us to protect them and put their best interests above profits. Please, don't be complicit in cruelty to animals: Do the right thing and stop selling products that promote criminal violence against living beings."
PETA said the controversy over "The Pedophile's Guide" created the ideal climate for them to highlight animal fighting - an issue that's always on their radar.
"At a time when Amazon is coming out very publicly against books on pedophilia, this is a prime time for Amazon to step up and stop selling books that promote other illegal activity, like dogfighting and cockfighting," PETA spokeswoman Lindsey Rajt told CNN.
In fact, the two issues are "interconnected," Rajt said
"Animal abuse is one of the first warning signs we see in people who turn and direct violence toward people," she said. "This is really important because the twisted whims of people who enjoy watching animals fight to the death is not something Amazon should be catering to. There are greater societal implications."
Amazon.com did not return calls for comment.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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World to PETA: STFU
So, you speak for the world now?
Speak for yourself, I'm in total agreement with PETA on this. (for once)
I agree!
@Corvus
So you agree that animals killing each other is the same as pedophilia? Really?
Leave it to PETA to use anything to get their agenda across.
LOL – YEAH!
No, *you* shut up, Crady. I knew I'd find idiots here who don't care about the issues and will just rant against anything PETA is involved in. So, I take it you *don't* agree that material promoting animal crulety should be removed from Amazon? Let me guess, pedophelia is wrong but making animals viciously maul each other to death for entertainment is just harmless fun? gtfo
Sit PETA......Lay DOWN!
this is just crap
@dave, YOU need to shut up... i would rather take a book that informs people of dog fighting than a group who's founding member Ingrid, happily supported a domestic terrorist that tried to kill PEOPLE
Right on, Crady. Amazon should ban books by PETA.
As a hunter, fisherman, and meat eater, I very rarely agree with anything PETA says and really regard them as a bunch of nutjobs, but in this case I am 100% with them. I hunt in the company of dogs (retrievers and pointers) and generally enjoy their company more than many people. I would never intentionally engage in activities designed to harm them and will never understand people who take pleasure in that. I think we should boycott Amazon until these publications are banned from their lists.
I think I am going to write a letter to the president of CNN and ask that they ban posting PETA articles. Our country was built on using animales as a way to farm land and grow crops. Does that mean we must pull all history books off of the shelf as well?
Get a life!
censorship pure and simple – amazon must see itself as what it is, the world leader in online retail / it is not Amazon's job to censor – censor your local bookstores, but not amazon.
Happy Thanksgiving PETA!! Your favorite holiday of the year!! ;D
I'm looking forward to eating some nice juicy turkey, but I prefer lots of white meat so I want mine to have been caged in as small of a space as possible prior to having its neck broken.
Mmmm mmmm!!! Love that turkey and giblet gravy. lol stuff a sock in it, PETA.
If the PETA terroists are for it, then everyone should be against it.
Me to you; you're an f***ing idiot
This is exactly what Amazon wanted to avoid. Practicallly EVERYTHING offends SOMEBODY. Where does it stop? I detest eating vegetables. I want all books that say eating vegetables is healthy to be pulled from Amazon ASAP or I will boycott!!
Banning books?Now where have I heard that before?
PETA, take a hike.
No Dave you shut up.If you want to be a Petard fruitcake go ahead.Don't assume the rest of us buy this BS.
No Dave you shut up petard.Why don't you and your rump ranger buddy Cowboy go find a motel room and stop blogging here.
It's the reason I have not shopped with Amazon for a few years, however convenient they were to use. They hide behind 1st Amendment rights but how does that apply when something is illegal? Additionally, what is the organization's ethics on these OBVIOUS issues. I use Half . com as an alternative for books. Be sure to go to Amazon and let them know how you feel about this topic.
That's too bad, you're missing out. Amazon is awesome.
please learn to differentiate between speech and action.
Hurry. Someone quickly warn the police about Jonathan Swift. He's talking about something illegal.
Dogfighting is illegal. Information about dogfighting is not. Pretty big difference.
Speech about something illegal is not illegal. Speech about something that creates an obvious danger to someone is illegal. It's called the "clear and present danger" exclusion.
Laurel, you're a moron. Also, Amazon sells a heck of a lot more than books, and at very reasonable prices. So, you're okay with first ammendment rights for everything, including your right to come here and post your opinion, but not for anyone that does something you don't agree with. That's kinda like communism. And as someone else said, it's illegal to fight dogs, not to have information about it. AMAZON.COM FOREVER!!!
Yes, Amazon used to restrict what was sold until LGBT advocates screamed foul because not all of their filth was available for sale. Consequently Amazon restricted all restrictions. When it comes to Liberals, its damned if you do, damned if you don't. We should ship all Liberals to Saudi Arabia,. Afghanistan and Iran where they can sit at cafes and sip their lattes.
LOL - it's always so intriguing to read people's responses. I wonder why people get so judgmental and have to call others some name. How about just arguing the facts? Clearly guys I meant that dog fighing is illegal, not the books. I'm wondering if anyone responding here supports dog fighting and is willing to admit it. Also, Amazon has a policy which allows them to choose not to allow the sales of certain books or items. What's interesting is in which ways they choose to invoke this. I don't think I'm a moron or stupid or whatever for not shopping with Amazon; is that how you define value in the world? This should be fun - awaiting any responses.
Yes, Theman_Lamar, and all conservatives should be sent over to Afghanistan and Iran so they can see how well that whole "Everyone should have assault riflles and we should live under biblical laws" worked out.
"It's the reason I have not shopped with Amazon for a few years, however convenient they were to use."
Because they sell books you don't like.
BTW PETA kills just as many animals as anybody else, if not more. I dont support dog fighting, but whats wrong with reading about it?
Why does CNN report on PETA; a group who no one cares for? Do PETA stories actually make your ratings go up that much more??
These stories do help to get the rest of the world to hate PETA and to oppose anything that can be loosely associated with PETA and other enviro-terrorist organisations.
PETA has actually done some very good things. I love that PETA helped close that research lab in Virginia that was abusing laboratory animals. Glad that someone in this world cares enough to disagree with forcing other creatures to fight to their deaths for entertainment. What kind of junk considers that entertainment anyhow?
@Happy. Little lesson for ya happy, all research laboratories "abuse" animals. Research animals are just that, they are given drugs, cancer, pain, bacteria, viruses, and all other types of thing that humans suffer from on a daily basis. They are "abused" so that we can find ways to help preserve the quality of life for humans. The average life expectancy is 20 years longer thanks to animal research and every single cancer treatment, anti-retroviral HIV treatment, antibiotic, and everything that effects you and your family/friend has been tested on an animal. I am so sick of you ignorant people who are misinformed, yet voice opinions as if you have been educated outside of your inner circle of goons about these issues. Go climb in a hole.
oh and how about some irony for you as well....the head of PETA is diabetic. Oh my goodness, where in the world do you think he gets his insulin from? Do they drain it from other humans?...get a clue
Actually, a lot of people care for and support PETA, people who have a heart and aren't self-absorbed and indifferent to the suffering of others, to include members of other specie; and CNN reports on PETA's activities because it's news and CNN is a news network.
Oh, and 'lesson time' medical research can be and is done effectively and humanely in European countries without using animals, which is how it should be done here. Torturing animals to advance medical research is not necessary and torturing them for entertainment is inexcusable. I can only hope that some day you will grow a heart, because it's evident that you are functioning without one now.
Why does CNN report on PETA; a group who no one cares for? Do PETA stories actually make your ratings go up that much more??
When PETA was about the suffering of animals I don't think anyone really had a problem with them. When they started trying to tell everyone how to live however, we quickly got tired of their rhetoric. Don't eat meat, don't drink milk("it's liquid meat"), don't fish, don't hunt, don't wear fur(or we'll throw blood on you), don't buy leather and the list seems endless. These are the reasons PETA is so hated by so many.
@lesson time. No lesson taught by you here. I happen to disagree with vivisection and my gene pool isn't suffering as greatly as yours. Obviously I've struck a nerve by saying PETA has done good things and I'm happy to see research labs shut down. It warms my heart to know there is nothing you can do about it, too!
@ lesson time, by the way, there is no animal based insulin on the market in the U.S. Please inform yourself before attacking others, including Ingrid Newkirk.
Warms our hearts eating a nice juicy steak and there's nothing PETA can do about it.
PETA – your neighbourhood fascist censors. Perhaps we should ban books on loopy environmentalism and vegetarian cooking.
You make no sense.
With all the bestiality-marriages PETA officiates, how do they find time to ban books?
Wow, looks like all the right wing idiots are out in force.
Bestiality marriages? Really? You are a total moron!
PETA is the organization for People Eating Tasty Animals, right?
Meat is murder ... tasty, tasty murder
Very tasty.
Why is murder so wrong?
WOW!!.....IN FEW YEARS WE WILL HAVE TO MOVE TO CHINA OR CUBA, AT LEAST THEY WILL LET US BROWSE THE INTERNET OR READ FEW BOOKS!!
Research NOBEL PIECE PRIZE + CHINA.
What is the Nobel Piece Prize? Agreed though, you haven't seen censorship until you've lived in China as I have.
ME TO PETA.....MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! You can't force people to BELIEVE the PETA Way, just like CHURCH should not forcing there Beliefs on ANYONE ELSE...
True, but it's good that small minded people die, too.
Why not just ban all books to be fair. The amount of censorship today is astounding.
It is about time groups take on Amazon and a lot of big book sellers that think it okay to make a profit on things like dog fighting and pedophilia.
Wow. An army of soccer-moms and flannel-pajama-dads lost it when a book about pedophilia appeared at Amazon. When Peta points to the books about animal cruelty, they're attacked, slandered and mocked. No wonder your kids are smoking weed, failing in school and pregnant at 16. You deserve it.
Beautifully stated, Tsshhh! No doubt you are spot on.
Talk about a slippery slope. Once a precedent for censorship is set for one particular book, the door is opened to censor anything people don't like. So much for "The Land of the Free." More like "The Land of the Squeemish Fascists."
Agreed! If you think those books are bad – don't buy them!
Exactly. As many people say, let the free market decide. If no one buys the books, there is nothing to worry over. And seriously – you really think someone won't participate or start a dog fighting ring without buying a book?
Agree one hundred percent. Now that the door has been opened I'm just waiting to see how many other groups will jump on the band wagon of what Amazon should ban.
Umm, this isn't censorship. censorship can only be done by a government. That's the literal definition of censorship. PETA is just asking Amazon to be responsible.
Ummm no, if you look at the definitions of censorship, governments have absolutley nothing to do with the term. It is simply the act of censoring, doesn't matter who is doing it.
First time I've ever agreed with PETA about anything.
Me to PETA: Dog-fighting leads to pedophilia?? Come on now, really?
The green/rights movement has become a circus show of extremists who now have found a spotlight and gullible crowd for their ludicrous assumptions and exaggerated predicitions
Of course it had to happen... now every ridiculous ideological group will go to Amazon telling them to take down whatever books advocate the other side. Because we don't want people to make up their mind in an INFORMED way, NOOOO, we want people to DO WHAT WE SAY BECAUSE WE SAY IT! Pathetic. Just as well that we have digital books now, or the book burnings would be next.