Commentary: Michael Vick, dog fighting and the ASPCA

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by Rachel Weaver

The recent indictment of suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who admitted to involvement in a dog fighting ring in rural Virginia, brought new public attention to an unusually cruel "sport".

Dog fighting is when two dogs that have been bred and trained to fight are put into a ring, pit, or some kind of enclosure to fight each other for spectator's entertainment and for gambling purposes. The fight ends when one dog can no longer fight. Sometimes these dogs even die from dehydration, shock, blood loss, or infections from untreated wounds.

Forty thousand people in the United States are estimated to be part of the cruel sport of dog fighting and as many as one hundred thousand other people are involved in street dog fighting, a more informal version. Despite the fact that dog fighting is illegal in all fifty states, it continues to rise in popularity.

Vick and his codefendants pled guilty in federal court in August to one count of conspiracy for running the dog fighting ring. They will be sentenced in December.

Vick was also indicted in September in Virginia state court and could go to trial there if he doesn't reach another plea deal. If he goes to trial, he could face up to ten years in prison for charges of beating or causing dogs to fight other dogs and of promoting dog fighting

What Vick did is horrible not only because of the fact that he was hurting innocent dogs, many of which died, but also that he was a role model and a figure in the public eye. He didn't need the money that the dog fights brought in. He did it for "sport". For the "fun" of it.

Michael Vick did apologize for his actions. However, he lied before and did not apologize until he pled guilty, which seems to happen quite often. People aren't sorry until they're caught. These actions however are more than inexcusable.

Sorry will not bring back those dogs. And sorry will definitely not help the fifty three dogs that may have to be put down because of their aggressive behavior as a result of breeding and training.

Vick only admitted to actually killing eight dogs by methods that include, but are not limited to, drowning, electrocuting, and hanging, just because they didn't meet his testing standards.

One factor that seems fairly obvious to me but doesn't seem to be to other people and the media is the fact the animal cruelty such as dog fighting can be linked to violence people commit towards other people.
A 1997 survey of 50 of the largest shelters for battered women in the United States found that 85% of women and 63% of children entering shelters discussed incidents of pet abuse in the family, according to the Human Society of the United States.

More than 80 percent of families being treated for child abuse were also involved in animal abuse, according to PAWS, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society.

So when people say Michael Vick deserves a break and that using animals for sport is not a problem, think about what it is training people to do - be cruel to other living things.