Three articles are making the rounds on the Michael Vick dogfighting case:Vick Enters Plea, Vows to Redeem Himself With his family by his side, Michael Vick gave a heartfelt apology and took full responsibility for his part in setting up and running a dogfighting ring on his Virginia property. There were several quotes of significance:
- "I was not honest and forthright in our discussions"
- "I need to grow up"
- "Dogfighting is a terrible thing, and I did reject it"
- "So I got a lot of down time, a lot of time to think about my actions and what I've done and how to make Michael Vick a better person"
- "I will redeem myself. I have to"
Dog-Eared Michael Vick Cards Win Big on eBay Collector Rochelle Steffen of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, has raised more than $455 on 22 cards lovingly chewed by her Weimaraners,Monte and Roxie. The cards were getting higher bids chewed up than those being sold elsewhere in more pristine shape.
The auction ended yesterday and the winning bid money will be given to the humane society of the bidder's choice.
Pit Bulls at Vick's House Face Deadline Here comes the hard stuff. What do you do with 50 dogs that have been trained to be vicious and can never be adoptable as pets? Sadly, the answer is euthanasia. While it's great that Michael Vick is turning his life around, at least he has the chance. These poor guys are just waiting time until a judge makes the final decision on Thursday.
2 comments:
I watched Vick's public apology with my little son who USED TO wear Michael Vick jerseys to school. It is disturbing to think a certain percentage of the population is honestly going to be swayed by Michael Vick's "enlightenment" carefully crafted by his overpaid attorneys. Call me a cynic, but I don't believe a man who has been allegedly torturing animals since childhood coincidentally has a religious epiphany as a result of getting caught and losing his job. I hope I am wrong.
If there is anything good about the Michael Vick story, it is that there is an emerging increased awareness about animal cruelty and animal fighting. There is so much anger about this issue. If we channel it into a positive direction, hopefully, something good can come of it. However...
I think it is a sad commentary that we, as a culture, are using the Vick story to compare "What's worse?" "What's worse", we ask, "carelessly fathering illegitimate children, or dogfighting?". "Dogfighting or gambling?" "Dogfighting or rape?" "Dogfighting or racism?" "Dogfighting or hateful nationalism?" "Dogfighting or (fill in the blank)....?" The comparisons to dogfighting have been endless.
Dogfighting is one more piece of evidence our country is in need of a spiritual transformation (please note I said spiritual and not necessarily religious). Animals are sentient beings - they feel pain, and they suffer, just like we do. They are not more important, or less important than human beings, but like human beings, they are important, too.
Dogfighting pits one dog against another until one of them dies. The survivor gets his flesh torn off, ears ripped off, eyes pulled out, etc., and the reward for being "a winner" is to writhe in pain until the next fight. Enough said. The pictures make my flesh crawl. The losers are tortured, beaten, starved, electrocuted or drowned. For what? Because these poor creatures were unlucky enough to be born a dog!
Every major faith teaches its followers to be responsible stewards of animals and the Earth. Please help us get the word out that caring for animals, just like caring for people, is an important part of just being a decent person and citizen. If we make this a priority, there will be no more dogfighting horror stories, and no more pointless comparisons of evils. Let us all rise, together, to be better people than we are today, shall we?
Chaplain Nancy Cronk
Founder, www.AnimalChaplains.com
Thank you, Nancy, for writing up your thoughts. Gwen Knapp had a relevant commentary in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle. Her last two paragraphs (with a small portion cut to emphasize the key point here) are something we all need to think about:
" All that said, Vick deserves another chance when he gets out of prison. [...]
"If he returns to endless protests, the vitriol could undermine the most important lessons of this case: A year in prison will show Vick the consequences of his actions, but where and how will he learn about compassion?"
This is what we want to keep in mind - we could find Michael Vick transformed into a compelling advocate for animal welfare once he gets out of prison.
Think of the opportunities and impact that this could have for all the animals we still need to bring to safety around the world - it's definitely worth a try.
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