There will be no cute, fuzzy and warm photos attached to this post. Just some awful facts that have recently been brought to my attention by The Humane Society of the United States regarding Amazon.com selling materials promoting illegal animal fighting, including dog fighting videos and cockfighting magazines. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to know that it is wrong for Amazon.com to profit from illegal animal fighting whether on videos or magazines.
Amazon.com defends its rights citing freedom of speech but in The Humane Society of the United States’ lawsuit against Amazon.com it states that the First Amendment protections do not protect criminal solicitations for the illegal purchase and sale of fighting animals and weapons. Surely Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com make enough money without having to sell this type of material. As far back as December, 1999, in an interview by Joshua Quittner in Time Magazine Jeff Bezos said he would sell anything, “anything with a capital A”, except for firearms and live animals. Surely his Board of Directors, including a representative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and John Doerr, a well-respected venture capitalist, among others cannot agree with the officers of Amazon.com taking issue with The Humane Society of the United States and millions of animal lovers around the world that stand together against cruelty to animals.
But back to the Blogging community. Perhaps you may wish to think twice about supporting Amazon.com on your Blog and linking to Amazon.com until the Company acknowledges that they are aware of the Federal Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007 and stop selling this vile material. You do not have to be an animal activist to do this but simply think of the numbers of pet lovers that read your Blog and do not agree with animal cruelty.
Amazon.com, animal cruelty, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, bloggers, The Humane Society of the United States2 Responses to “Attention Bloggers Promoting Amazon.com For Extra Revenue”
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I have done what I can as an individual. I have cancelled my nearly 10 year account with Amazon. And I let them know why.
When I received their response (below) I couldn’t cancel quickly enough.
From: Amazon.com Customer Service [mailto:cust.service03@amazon.com]
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 1:12 PM
To: Alison
Subject: Your Amazon.com Inquiry
Thank you for writing to Amazon.com with your concerns. I understand that you feel very strongly about this issue.
Let me assure you that Amazon.com does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts; we do support the right of every individual to choose his or her own reading material or entertainment.
As a retailer, our goal is to provide customers with the broadest selection possible so they can find, discover, and buy any item they might be seeking. That selection includes some items which many people may find objectionable. Therefore, the items offered on our web site represent a wide spectrum of opinions on a variety of topics.
Amazon.com believes it is censorship not to sell certain titles because we believe their message is objectionable. Therefore, we will continue to make controversial works available in the United States and everywhere else, except where they are prohibited by law. We also allow readers, authors, and publishers to express their views freely about these titles and other products we offer on our web site. However, Amazon.com does not endorse any opinions expressed by individual authors, musical artists, or filmmakers.
However, Before authorizing us to close your account, please read the following information carefully. Further action is required in order to close your account.
Once your account is closed, it is no longer accessible by you or anyone else. You will need to start a new account if you wish to order more items on our site, participate in auctions, or take advantage of any other features on our web site which require a password.
Closing your account means that you will no longer have access to the following:
– your customer account for making purchases and selling items on Amazon.com
– your accounts at Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, or Amazon.co.jp
– your Your Media Library area, including any digital products you may have purchased
– your Amazon Wish List, Baby or Wedding Registry, or profile page
– your outstanding Amazon.com gift certificate or check funds balance
– your your purchase history and saved gifts in Gift Central
– your Amazon.com Associates account
Here are some other things to consider before you authorize cancellation of your account:
– If you use the same e-mail and password combination to shop at our Amazon Web Services sites (Target.com, NBA.com, and CDNow Preferred Buyer’s Club, Bebe.com, BenefitCosmetics.com), these accounts will be automatically closed as well.
– Any open Amazon.com orders you have will be cancelled.
– If you have an outstanding refund or an A-z Guarantee claim, we cannot ensure resolution or that you will receive a refund.
– If you are planning to return any items, please wait until the refund has been processed before requesting that we close your account. Refunds are typically processed within 2 to 3 days after we receive your package at our returns center.
If you still want us to close your account, please write back to us by visiting this page:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/rsvp/rsvp-mi.html?q=acc1
Please send your request from the e-mail address associated with the account you would like to close. Be sure to include the name on the account, so that we may verify your identity, and in the “Comments”
section please confirm that you want your account closed.
We value all feedback from our customers, and I thank you again for taking the time to send us your comments about this issue. Although we will not be able to comment further on this topic, we hope you will allow us to continue to serve you.
Thanks for the heads up. What a tragedy.