I will admit that I am way behind here. I don’t ever watch the news, I read it. But normally, articles centered on athletes, I tend to ignore, which is what I did when I say Michael Vick on yahoo news yesterday. I assumed it was another athlete getting caught on steroids. I had no idea how serious this was.
For those of you who don’t know, Michael Vick has been indicted by a federal grand jury for “his alleged role in a dog fighting venture that operated from a Virgina property owned by the Atlanta Falcons quaterback”. Apparently he’s been involved in dog fighting since 2001, when he bought property to start the Bad Newz Kennels. This is where he bought pit bull puppies, trained them to fight, and hosted dog fighting events, with purses as high as $26000.00. The details are gory. At least 8 dogs that didn’t perform well or lost matches were executed by various means, including, drowning, hanging and slamming at least one dog’s body to the ground. One they electrocuted.
Does anyone else find this utterly despicable? I cried when I heard the news today. How can there still be people in this world who would do these things to animals? Aren’t dogs supposed to be man’s best friend? But you train them to be killer dogs and set them against one another and they fight until they can’t any more or one of them dies. And then the one that loses the fight, you torture to death? And people watch this shit? These puppies are loving and trusting and they twisted it into something horrible and disgusting.
Don’t they always say that kids who torture animals end up being serial killers? So what will happen to these sick bastards? I believe that if Vick gets charged he will face up to one year in prison. One year!!! One year for a man who worked this nasty little scheme, this illegal scheme for almost 6 years.
Dog fighting is illegal in all 50 states, it is a felony in 49 states (what’s up Idaho?) But in most states it’s only a misdemeanor for being a spectator at a dog fight. But we can change that. Here is a list of the state laws for dog fighting. And here is more information about dog fighting from the Humane Society of the US. Write to your legislators and tell them that it should be a felony to watch dog fighting. These people support a criminal activity and it’s their participation that still makes this “sport” profitable.
At least I have one consolation. Nike and Reebok took away their endorsement deals this week.
18 comments
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July 29, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Heathyr
I am with you on this Les…I can’t even fathom it, and if I try I know it will only make me sick. Changing the legislation is definitely something we all need to fight for – the fact that the bowels of humanity can reach this low is not only utterly shameful, it’s absolutely horrific.
July 29, 2007 at 2:22 pm
mrc1471
amen! i’ve been watching this and have been praying he would loose his endorsements. the kicker is what dion sanders said, he makes me sick too!
July 29, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Patrick
and the trading card companies have stopped printing his cards. and I read about some other endorser pulling out of their interest with him.
I’m on your side girl; I’m from near Atlanta – near enough for everyone in my town to be a Falcons fan. This guy has never impressed me despite what poeple may consider talent. His brother was even worse. For me, it is a little personal. I don’t raise bull terriers but my dog died this weekend and I have been pretty up and down emotionally trying to deal. I couldn’t imagine killing dogs because they were a waste of space or bad for business.
Regardless of what comes out and whether he gets convicted or not, I’m certain that he is guilty of whatever he has been charged with doing.
July 30, 2007 at 2:46 am
Stephanie Davies
Yes that DOES make me sick….he is a vile person for doing that and should be punished heavily for it. Thank you for writing about it so others can hear about this tragedy!!
I wanted to stop by and thank you for being a sponsor of my blog in the 2007 Blogathon! We were able to raise a total of $70 for the ASPCA, and I couldn’t have done it without your pledge! Thank you SO much for your sponsorship!
July 30, 2007 at 9:09 pm
James
michael vick you make me sick. I just like saying that. It’s catchy. Like it could be a nursery rhyme one day, along with the lady who lived in a shoe.
Poor Michael Vick, you make me sick.
You can’t even catch a football.
But when you need dough,
poor puppies should know,
to bite when you feed them a meatball.
July 31, 2007 at 5:47 pm
leslie
OMG! I read what Deion Sanders said! He is such an idiot! I can’t believe he defended this guy. What a jerk
July 31, 2007 at 7:28 pm
miss morgan...
so sick and disgusting not to metion totally heart wrenching for the poor animals! people can really be sick.
August 1, 2007 at 4:33 am
Karen
Totally agree Leslie. Dog fighting, like cock fighting and any ‘sport’ that involves setting animals against each other in a dual to the death is totally disgusting and sick. So much for the age of enlightenment. It seems that some people just won’t step into the light.
August 1, 2007 at 11:30 am
Steve F.
Agreed- he is nothing short of evil. Dog fighting is horrendous enough, why the vicious torture and murder of defenseless (apparently) animals. If there were any justice in the world, Vick and his accomplices should be continuously electrocuted in a kiddie pool. Sorry to be hypocritical but this is just disgusting..
August 1, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Bob
I have avoided watching/reading too much about this because I find the concept of dog fighting to be so abhorrent.
August 2, 2007 at 5:43 am
Bob
Yay! You’re “Blog of the Day” at That’s My Answer!
August 4, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Mr. Althouse
I haven’t commented or wrote on this post because it serves no useful purpose. Here are some facts: Dog fighting is not only illegal but a felony in (as you said) 49 states. There has not been one – not one – report of anyone defending Vic’s alleged crimes – except his attorney, who claims, of course, that Vic didn’t do it – that he is innocent – not, “Ya, he did it, but we don’t think he did anything wrong.” That statement would be PR suicide. Even those who believe such is the case are smart enough to keep their mouths shut.
What’s it all mean? Well, I’m afraid that the MAXIMUM possible public opinion against dog fighting has been gained. It is a close to universally disdained as ever will be possible. Is that 100%? No, it never will be. There will always be those, like Vic, who feel that this is ok. They know it is considered deplorable by almost everyone – they don’t care. That is why they do it in secret.
The outrage is totally predictable and more so, understandable, but it won’t change anything. Even stiffer penalties (and they are plenty stiff now) won’t change anything. Do you think Vic thought he would get caught? His career is over, he will probably do time and he most likely will not do it again, but I doubt that he has changed his belief – he still doesn’t think it’s wrong.
August 4, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Mr. Althouse
Oh ya, Michele sent me.
Mike
August 4, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Mr. Althouse
Another thought:
In my comment above, it sounds as though I have thrown in the towel… that I have accepted this disgusting behavior as part of life. In other words, I have not offered up any solution, but there is one.
Greater enforcement including investigation and prosecution will put those participating where they belong – with the real animals… behind bars.
August 5, 2007 at 5:13 am
Aimee
i can’t read or listen to the details-it just makes me too sick. someone should treat these people, including vick, like they treat their dogs-then we may see a change in their attitude.
August 5, 2007 at 3:57 pm
leslie
I totally agree, Aimee. As an animal lover and someone who volunteered with the ASPCA, it breaks my heart to know that there are still people in this world who think animals are beneath them.
August 6, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Anna Molina-Wilkinson
I HATE Michael Vick. He deserves to f*cking rot. Anyone who condones cruelty to animals needs to put to sleep permanently.
August 11, 2007 at 10:14 am
Helene (China59)
I totally agree with you ! I’ve seen this on the news, and was shocked about how little case they made about it ! They just pointed out that it was illegal. Ha, I think it is a slight understatement here ! It is not only illegal, it is absolutely barbarous, and as people above said, the guy should rot and be treated as he treated the dogs !