Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Attention Amazon shoppers!

DON'T BUY FROM AMAZON!!!

Did you know that Amazon.com sells materials on dog fighting? I don't just mean documentaries. I mean things that will help you raise and train dogs to fight. They encourage the disgusting, illegal practice of making dogs fight, injure, maim and kill each other. For this reason, I stopped buying from Amazon a long time ago. I also sent a note to their CEO, but I never received a response.

I just went back and checked their website. They still sell this disgusting material. Lest you think I'm kidding, let me share a listing with you: The Dog Pit - Or, How To Select, Breed, Train And Manage Fighting Dogs.

In case dog fighting isn't enough, they also offer The Breeding and Management of Fighting Cocks.

Before anyone cries censorship... well, okay, in some way, what I'm suggesting is censorship, but businesses are free to do so. This is very different from government action. While I'd never suggest it for most things (like divergent political views--heck, I'd even protect the right of that evil woman Ann Coulter to have heard books sold), when a practice is so abhorrent that it's illegal and constitutes cruelty and brutality to animals, then materials that aid it shouldn't be sold!

Anyhow, DON'T BUY FROM AMAZON!!!

5 comments:

Pua; Bakin' and Tendin' Bar said...

I don't understand where their sense of responsibility is. Even if they had some kind of disclaimer, it still wouldn't make it right.

I stopped shopping Amazon a long time ago.

Scott Barnes said...

I'm torn. Being an artist and having a publishing background, I think that starting the path on any censorship is dangerous. Amazon also sells a LOT of books on the peace movement, and sex toys, and artistic nude photography that other people would find offensive. As awful as this content is, I think it's the price we pay for living in a free market society.

Jess said...

Scott, I'm very wary of such steps having a risk, too. As an example, I'm one of those Jews who thinks Nazis need to have the freedom to share their hateful thoughts and have their marches. We can protest and shout them down, but everyone's view has to be heard. Still, there are limits. The courts have long established that certain things can be stopped (like inciting a mob to riot, or the classic yelling fire in a crowded theater).

In this case, I don't think Amazon itself is breaking any laws, but they are aiding people who want to commit crimes and aiding cruelty to dogs. Every retailer makes decisions about what it will and won't sell (they're not selling gay porn, are they?), and I think they have made a bad decision in selling material that supports dog fighting. So I am boycotting them and encouraging others to do the same.

Joey said...

Thanks for that info. It's certainly enough for me to make the choice to boycott Amazon. (Unlike most NYC gays, I adore dogs). And, no, it's not the same as promoting censorship (though I don't blame anyone for raising the question, since it's something we always have to watch carefully).

Jess said...

Joey: you're right. We have to be very careful when it comes to censorship, but you're also right that some things are just over the line of any sense of decency (but of course I agree).