Michael Vick Rips ‘Dog Wars’ App

Michael Vick is growling about the new "Dog Wars" app for Google's Android phone. Created by Kage Games, the app allows users to feed, water, dope, train, and fight virtual dogs in bloody battles. "Train your dog to beat the best," says the website for the app, featuring a pit bull with a bloody muzzle, reports the AP. "I've come to learn the hard way that dog fighting is a dead-end street," the Philadelphia Eagles star quarterback says in a statement posted on the Humane Society's website. "Now I'm on the right side of this issue. It's important to send the smart message to kids, and not glorify this form of animal cruelty, even in an Android app."

A Kage Games statement on the website quips: "It is JUST a video game. Perhaps one day we will make gerbil wars or beta fish wars for people who can't understand fantasy role play games. Just because something is illegal in real life does not mean it is illegal to make a song, movie, or video game about it." A Kage Games rep tells the LA Times, "We are in fact animal lovers ourselves," and calls the app "our groundbreaking way to raise money/awareness to aid REAL dogs in need." The head of the Los Angeles police union is also calling for the game to be yanked because it encourages "sickening cruelty and immoral behavior." Google has not yet responded. (More Michael Vick stories.)