Getting set on fire, chopped in half, doused with stomach acids, kept in a small compartment and repeatedly getting slapped in the face for long periods of time are just some of the ways that these animals are being abused. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is also taking a stand against the video games of Mario and Pokémon due to their virtual abuse.

PETA is an organization that protests animal mistreatment.

“The creator of Pokémon never intended for his games to be violent,” sophomore Lane Pitman said. “Pokémons are supposed to be your best friends, so why would we hurt them?  They never die, so how is it animal abuse?”

PETA protests different restaurant chains and brings their issues to the public mind.

They claim that the popular video games are insinuating animal abuse.   The concept of the game Pokémon is to defeat the other “opponent” or animal by sending attack moves. Whichever animal loses its “life” is the loser, leaving the other animal defenseless.

“I’m a vegetarian and I don’t believe that these games are any form of animal abuse,” senior Noah French said. “There is a huge difference between virtual gaming and reality.”

According to PETA2.com, the amount of time that Pokémon spends stuffed in pokéballs is akin to how elephants are chained up in train carts, waiting to be let out to “perform” in circuses.

“I don’t think that it’s animal abuse, because it’s not real life,” sophomore Jessica Benfield said. “It has nothing to do with the animals that are present in our real lives.”

The difference between real life and this fictional world full of organized animal fighting is that Pokémon games paint rosy pictures of things that are actually horrible.

PETA has also taken a stand against the video game Tanooki Mario. In the game, Mario wears a fur hat that resembles a “tanuki”, a member of the dog family resembling a raccoon in appearance. These animals are skinned alive for their fur and left to die. PETA believes that the popular video game is promoting the killing of this species native to Asia.

“I think it’s ridiculous because the virtual world and reality are completely different,” senior Aarika Novelli said. “If PETA decides that a video game can be seen as animal abuse, why wouldn’t the crimes in other games like Grand Theft Auto also translate to the real world?”

The protesting doesn’t stop with Mario. Anipang, a smart phone application, is a Tetris-like game that involves the bombing of animals. Many animal activist groups are claiming that the app is insinuating animal abuse by bombing and killing virtual animals.