Friday, July 20, 2007

Man Bites Dog


Saw this image posted on a couple of Atlanta Falcons' chatboards. Seems folks are ready to hang Vick out to dry...due process be damned. I cannot understand how anyone could get involved with dogfighting. There's apparently big money out there for people breeding these dogs, so maybe it's not that hard to understand. Still, that's some cold shit..CNN and some of the other news channels have been playing video of dogfights. (The fight I saw on television was part of a sting operation that took place in Columbus--yay us) I'm no animal lover, but it made me a little sick to see this dog with his jaw clamped around another dog's face. People were standing around this little walled off "arena" watching the dogs go at it...one of the spectators was a little kid. It's a felony in Ohio to even attend a dogfight, and the a-holes involved were all arrested.

Vick's status as a high-profile athlete is already making the condemnation of dogfighting the new cause du jour...John Kerry is throwing in his chips on the matter. Here's an excerpt from cnn.com:

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Senate criticism increased Friday as Sen. John Kerry said he had sent a letter to the NFL commissioner calling for Vick's immediate suspension.

"Dogfighting is one of society's most barbaric and inhumane activities," Kerry wrote to Commissioner Roger Goodell.

"As the most popular team sport in America, professional football has a responsibility to showcase the highest levels of behavior and sportsmanship," Kerry's letter said.

The 2004 Democratic presidential nominee also said he planned to introduce anti-dogfighting legislation.

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The wheels of bureaucracy grind exceedingly slow…what will happen to Vick in the meantime? The Humane Society and others have been calling for Vick’s immediate suspension. Falcons’ ownership has to be freaking out about ticket-holders boycotting the team…not to mention public pressure to “do something.” The more allegations that come out, the uglier the case gets. One of the pending charges (pardon me if I don’t get the legalese right…I’m no lawyer) is Vick and two other guys “executing” eight dogs they deemed unfit for fighting.

Vick and his boys allegedly killed the dogs “by various methods, including hanging, drowning and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground," reads the indictment. PETA and the like are going to be screaming for Vick’s blood. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vick “voluntarily” left the team until trial, even if that means he misses the season.

Here’s George Dohrmann’s take from si.com:

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With the gravity of the crimes alleged, Vick's most serious problem would seem to be one of perception. If one believes the allegations against him, Vick is neither a novice dogfighter nor or a hobbyist who dipped his toe into the sport briefly. The indictment alleges Vick is a professional dogfighter who"sponsored" more than two dozen dogfights. He is not, as he previously said, someone who merely trusted the wrong people. Rather, he is the face of a bloodsport that the majority of NFL fans probably didn't know existed until the property he owned on Moonlight Road was raided in late April.

"We expect the Falcons and the NFL to take prompt action," says John Goodwin, dogfighting expert for the Humane Society. "The message needs to be sent to other athletes who have been involved or are involved in dogfighting that this can be a career ender."