Okay, so things in my house have settled down – but all around me are people screaming at the NFL for praising Michael Vick on his recent football successes.
For those of you who might live under a rock – a few years back Michael Vick was convicted of racketeering and sent to prison for 18 months. While the charge was officially racketeering – the truth was he was housing a dog fighting operation.
There are no good dog fighting operations – but Vick’s was really bad. There were rape tables to breed the dogs against their will, their were electrocutions, bait dogs, the females had all of their teeth removed so that they wouldn’t fight back while being bred – I think you get the picture.
Dogs were being mutilated for money at Michael Vick’s house and regardless of who you are – that should make you angry.
Well, it did make the entire Humane community upset. I can’t quite remember the exact number of dogs pulled from Vick’s house – but I believe that 46 of them were saved and sent to various rescues. 22 of them found homes at Best Friends Animal Society – some of which might spend their lives at the sanctuary because they are unadoptable due to the emotional scars (and some physical) from their tragic past.
Vick served his time – and is now playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. In fact, he is playing better than he ever has before – So good that he is setting NFL records and will be featured on the front cover of Sports Illustrated this week.
Which has spurred controversy - lots of it – in the animal rights community.
Now, every Sunday or Monday or even Thursday – I find a reason to bitch about Michael Vick and how the NFL should have never allowed him back into the league. To which my husband always counters with, “Well, there are players who have been accused and even found guilty of rape and drugs and the NFL lets them back in.”
True.
I think someone just commented that the NFL – should really stand for, “The National Felons League.” Sounds good to me.
It should also be said that above our new bar stands 12 bottles of wine – one for each of the Vick dogs rescued by Best Friends Animal Society. They offered them as a fundraising campaign -we could only afford to buy 12 of the 22. But, at any rate – they are now showcased at our bar along with the Sport Illustrated magazine that featured one of the Vick dogs on the cover and a story about what happened.
See, while our basement glows green and gold for the Packers – we thought it was important that any guest we had – know a bit about what Vick did.
Okay, more background… once Vick got out of prison – he found his way to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) where he serves as an ambassador for anti-dog fighting campaigns.
No, I don’t know if I support that or not.
But, anyway, people I know are mad about Vick being on the cover of SI. I guess it does make me mad – but this is how I have found some peace…
SI has done pieces on the dogs Vick had and has said in print what a horrible thing it was. SI reached people who might otherwise know nothing about dog fighting. One of SI’s editors, Jim Gorant, has written a book titled, “The Lost Dogs” which is all about what happened and where the dogs are today. Because a SI editor wrote it – there will, again, be people who pick up the book who otherwise wouldn’t.
Almost every time that Michael Vick has been interviewed for his NFL profession the issue of dog fighting is raised. Those interviews reach millions of people – millions of people are being made aware of the tragedy of dog fighting.
I am appalled at what Michael Vick did and personally, I could never forgive him. And, I could, for the rest of my life, bitch and moan about it every week during football season. But, the silver lining to it all – is that society is learning about the cruelty of dog fighting, they are learning that it exists all over the world and in every socio-economic level and amongst every demographic.
Each week when Vick plays – the world is reminded of what he did and it spurs conversation – more conversation than would have ever taken place.
It should have never happened in the first place. What Michael Vick did was an atrocity – a sick behavior that uses innocent creatures as fighting machines – dogs lost their lives in cruel ways and forgiving Michael Vick isn’t something most people in my circles could ever do… But, at the same time – his comeback of the century is also a billboard about dog fighting – a perpetual neon sign – reminding people about the horridness of dog fighting and the importance to end it.
I think we owe it to all of the dogs who lost their lives and the ones rescued still waiting to find good homes – to embrace what the media is giving us – a voice reaching millions of people every week about ending dog fighting – because isn’t that what's important, anyway?
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