PETA's German branch has publicly taken EA and DICE to task for allowing players to kill animals within the game Battlefield 3. The activist group is referring to a part of the game where players can kill a rat with a knife. Worse yet they can stab it in the back... They issued the following statement, translated by Battlefield3Blog :

"The realistic computer game “Battlefield 3? treats animals in a sadistic manner. The game gives players the option to kill a rat with a combat knife in the back in order to then lift it by its tail, then toss it away. Killing virtual animals can have a brutalizing effect on the young male target audience. There have been repeated cases of animal cruelty in Germany, where young people kill animals. Inspiration behind these acts often came from movies and computer games."

The original text can be found here - in German.

Thanks to Blue's News .