In response to a complaint from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Zynga decided to remove the Pit Bull from Mafia Wars. PETA’s reason for the complaint is that Zynga promotes using a domestic animal as a weapon and thus encourages abuse of Pit Bull in real life.

Because of this move, PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman stated that she will be sending a box of vegan chocolates to Zynga CEO Mark Pincus as a thank you gift.  This decision made Mafia Wars players wanting PETA to go away instead.

Maybe this is also the reason why Animals are not yet implemented in Mafia Wars. What will PETA say about Silverback Gorillas, Alligators, and African Lions used in fights and robbing? I guess they think that Pit Bulls are more important than the endangered gorillas.

At present, Zynga is receiving a lot of flak from Mafia Wars Players for removing their beloved Pit Bulls from the game. It comes at a time when Zynga and Facebook are on a standoff and Mafia Wars feeds are not published in walls. Will we see a decrease in the number of players because of this?