According to the Humane Society, here's what Michael Vick did, why he deserves to be suspended by the NFL, and why he should go to jail for a long time:
Late yesterday, a federal grand jury indicted NFL star quarterback Michael Vick and three cohorts on felony dogfighting charges...The abuses described in the 19-page indictment are almost beyond belief:
In or about March of 2003, PEACE [one of Vick?s co-defendants], after consulting with VICK about the losing female pit bull's condition, executed the losing dog by wetting the dog down with water and electrocuting the animal.
In or about April 2007, PEACE, PHILLIPS, and VICK executed approximately 8 dogs that did not perform well in "testing" sessions...by various methods, including hanging, drowning, and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground."
South Carolina's attorney general Henry McMaster paints an equally gruesome picture.He tells of dogs being poked with electric prods to make them go harder during training, or being tied to the back of a pickup for long, grueling runs. He said he believes family pets have been stolen to serve as "bait dogs" ? helpless animals that help ensure a pit bull has the proper bloodlust for an actual fight.
"They will tape the mouth shut so the bait dog can't hurt their prized pit bull," McMaster said. "Then they'll put them in the pit and let them be chewed to pieces. They want their dogs to learn how to kill."
By the way, according to the Humane Society, this "sport" is "largely a recreational activity for gang members," where "the pots run into the six figures." Great stuff, huh?
Well, that's what Michael Vick has been heavily involved with, and that's why he needs to go to jail for a long time. According to this report, an "18-page indictment alleges that Vick and three other men ran the [dog fighting] operation from early 2001 to April 2007 at a Smithfield, Va., property owned by Vick." Vick "faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and full restitution if convicted on the first count. On the second, each faces a year in prison, a $100,000 fine, or both."
Dogfighting is one of the most heinous, sadistic, disgusting things anyone can engage in. No excuses: the judge should throw the book at Michael Vick - spare me any nonsense about how he's a famous football player (who cares!) and thus deserves special treatment. Just as importantly, this illegal "sport" should go the way of barbarisms that we might have thought had gone the way of the gladiatoral games. Or are we back to "bread and circuses" once again in the year 2007? Let's hope not.
On a semi-related note ... can someone please ask CNN to stop showing graphic video of dog fights?
Not to reveal anything but some of the things I hear talked about in reference to the Tigers in particular and athletes AND their wives in general..... nobody should be looking up to some of these yahoos.
That said there are SO many people involved in sports who give back to their communities and schools that they should be recognized when they do.
I taught Anthony Poindexter ( UVA '99/ All American/Super Bowl/Coach at UVA) If you want to look up to and admire a sports figure from Virginia...admire and respect him. He's beyond a class act!
I'm kidding, of course, but unfortunately it's sad that if a player performs at a superstar level, we'll overlook a lot of stuff.
Lowell, my sister counsels recovering drug addicts, works w/ abuse victims and is battling breast cancer. She's MY hero! Plus she played volleyball in high school!
;-)
If rich, White people loved dogfighting (instead of Blacks, mostly), would dogfighting even be illegal? It's the same with cockfighting - if rich, White people liked cockfighting (and not Hispanic immigrants), would cockfighting be illegal? I just got back from Spain where bullfighting is popular. It's not as popular as it once was, but people go to bullfights and it's considered an important part of the culture. What's the difference? I don't see any.
And what about our treatment of other animals? Animals on factory farms are treated worse than those involved in dogfighting (if you have any doubts about this - just go over to PETA's website). But we eat those animals and are happy with the low prices that the factory farms provide (even if we complain, rightly, about the pollution and problems with the safety of our food supply). But, factory farms are legal, and cockfighting and dogfighting can result in long prison terms. Where's the justice in that?
In truth, I'm uncomfortable with animal abuse, whether in factory farms, bullfighting, dogfighting, or cockfighting. I just think we need to be consistent in our treatment of animals and not selectively enforce animal treatment standards on minority groups and selected animals that some of us like to keep as pets. We already have too many Blacks and Hispanics in prison - why add more because of something like dogfighting that's not a danger to society?
Despite my town of (long) residence, this is no defense of Michael Vick. But the Constitution is still supposed to mean something. Are we now to just accuse and throw away the key? What about those wrongfully accused, even railroaded. There was one such case I wrote about just two days ago. A man was nearly executed (and may well still be), but 7/9 witnesses said he didn't do it (but they were coerced into signing affadavits). Most were very young at the time. And one of the 2 witnesses who won't recant is the one who most say actually did the deed.
Finally, we spend way too much time on celebrities, however allegedly heinous, the charges are. I am so sick of Paris Hilton, and the whole sorry lot of underachievers the media celebrates, being thrust before us night after night. Hold the trial.
So, forget the live blogs (of his trial). If guilty, Vick doesn't deserve the attention. 18,000 died in the US this year because of no health care. Now Bush wants to thwart the CHIPS program, which insures kids, as duly reported on this same page. More than three thousand US soldiers have died in Iraq. Around 600,00 civilians have died in Iraq. 2 million are homeless and/or refugees in Iraq. The GOP, not the Dems, have obstructed the vote on funding the Defense Dept. (How many media outlets got that right?) The Justice Dept has been hijacked to thwart legal voters from voting. The real story in Justice is the caging (and deleting from the voting rolls, lawful voters and upending the fundamental right to vote. Nearly every agency of the federal government was turned into an arm of the Committee to Reelect (just as in the Watergate era). But this is so much worse than Watergate (as John Dean titles his book). As hideous as are the charges against Vick, there's a lot of work to do and we should not get sidetracked with the celebrity news of the day. We have a counter-media to work on, and elections to cover and (hopefully) volunteer on. Onward!
The indictment mentions a "person known to the grand jury" from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Today I saw this article that a man in VA Beach was arrested for animal cruelty--specifically, for shooting a pitbull with a pistol.
I'm guessing this is the last piece in the puzzle needed by the CA's office to file charges against Vick in Virginia.
It is worth taking note, however, that the use of fighting dogs in war has a long history, going back to ancient Roman times when, for example, one day the Romans fought the Gauls in Northern Italy, defeated the naked Gaulish warriors (and their women, who fought alongside their men) in a few hours in the morning, but the dogs did not give up, fought on, and were not subdued until late in the afternoon. Dogs were used in combat during the Middle Ages, hence the term "loose the dogs of war" in Shakespeare. It wasn't that long ago that we entertained ourselves with bear baiting and bull baiting, and that's why we bred bulldogs.
Why human beings think they have the right to enjoy forcing other creatures to kill each other to entertain us, I cannot understand; but then, less than five generations ago whites forced blacks to fight each other to earn gambling money for their masters. Human beings (or some of them) simply love bloodletting, it's in the DNA--- and probably one reason homo sapiens was the winner in the primate lottery.
Allegations of a vicious dogfighting ring prompted an unusually emotional speech in the Capitol yesterday, as the Senate's longest-serving member fought tears and called for God's judgment on those who promote such activities."One is left wondering," he said. "Who are the real animals: the creatures inside or outside the ring?"
"Let that word resound from hill to hill and from mountain to mountain, from valley to valley across this broad land," he thundered, raising his right hand. "May God help those poor souls who would be so cruel. Barbaric! Hear me!"
[...]
"I am confident that the hottest places in hell are reserved for the souls of sick and brutal people who hold God's creatures in such brutal and cruel contempt," he said.
"One is left wondering," he said. "Who are the real animals: the creatures inside or outside the ring?"