Yesterday, disgraced Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick left prison after serving 19 months for dogfighting. He will serve two more months at home, and has apparently offered to work with youth through the Humane Society to educate others about dog fighting. Hmmm...the irony there being that the HSUS wanted to euthanize all of the dogs that were seized.
Well, as you all can imagine, I'm not in the group of people that feel MV deserves a second chance.
The silver lining is that many of the wonderful dogs that were taken from his hellhole, were given a second chance, and they are thriving. Several have become therapy dogs, been adopted to good homes, are in foster care, or are living their days at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab.
I'd love to hear from you, I have posted a poll on the right sidebar. Vote, and tell me why you chose your answer here in the comments.
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9 comments:
I'll just add that it's totally cool if you disagree with me and think he does deserve a second chance, provided you can present an articulate argument that illustrates your point in a constructive, well thought, concise, logical manner.
If you leave an anonymous, rambling, illogical, disjointed rant, you will be deleted.
I guess the deleted comment was one of those amazing mean-spirited rants that the internet seems to inspire - isn't anonymity amazing?
While I'm not sure what you mean by a second chance, I don't believe the guy should be allowed to own animals of any kind ever again. However, I would support his decision to work with inner city kids if he's actually going to go out and tell people he screwed up big time, and try to make a difference in those kids' and their dogs' lives. I think a lot of those kids would really be willing to listen to someone like Michael Vick - much more so than if you or I showed up and told them not to hurt their dogs.
Deleted the last post cause I forgot to finish my first sentence =)
Thanks Shannon! I think you raise a good point about his ability to reach kids in that capacity. I guess I purposely left what kind of second chance out, could be in life, football, etc.
I guess the thing that really clinched it for me was this post from BadRap, out of San Fran no less! They took many of the dogs:
http://badrap-blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/op-eds-on-vick-news.html
I hope you are well girl, miss ya!
Adding to the link that I posted to Bad Rap, what really got me was Donna's story- she is the founder of Bad Rap, and went to Vick's compound to aid in the rescue:
"From (Donna) - I admit I'm stuck on this one because I just can't get myself away from the swimming pool in Vick's yard. I first learned about it while riding in the back seat of a federal agent's car that sweltering Tuesday back in Sept 07. The agent was assigned with escorting us to the various Virginia shelters so we could evaluate "the evidence" otherwise known as 49 pit bulls - now known as cherished family pets: Hector, Uba, Jhumpa, Georgia, Sweet Jasmine and the rest. I'm not sure if sharing insider information with us was kosher, but you know how driving down long country roads can get you talking. I imagine she just needed to get some things off her chest. She said she was having trouble sleeping since the day they exhumed the bodies on the Moonlight Road property. She said that when she watched the investigators uncover the shallow graves, she was compelled to want to climb in and pick up the decomposing dogs and comfort and cradle them. She knew that was crazy talk, and she was grappling with trying to understand such a surprising impulse.
Her candor set the tone for this entire saga. Everyone we worked with was deeply affected by the case. The details that got to me then and stay with me today involve the swimming pool that was used to kill some of the dogs. Jumper cables were clipped onto the ears of underperforming dogs, then, just like with a car, the cables were connected to the terminals of car batteries before lifting and tossing the shamed dogs into the water. Most of Vick's dogs were small - 40lbs or so - so tossing them in would've been fast and easy work for thick athlete arms. We don't know how many suffered this premeditated murder, but the damage to the pool walls tells a story. It seems that while they were scrambling to escape, they scratched and clawed at the pool liner and bit at the dented aluminum sides like a hungry dog on a tin can.
I wear some pretty thick skin during our work with dogs, but I can't shake my minds-eye image of a little black dog splashing frantically in bloody water ... screaming in pain and terror ... brown eyes saucer wide and tiny black white-toed feet clawing at anything, desperate to get ahold. This death did not come quickly. The rescuer in me keeps trying to think of a way to go back in time and somehow stop this torture and pull the little dog to safety. I think I'll be looking for ways to pull that dog out for the rest of my life."
Ugh. That is horrifying and disgusting. Ok, I wasn't aware of a lot of the specifics of the situation, and after reading that and the rest of the blog, I see where you're coming from. I'm going to change my vote to NO, for whatever kind of second chance you want to refer to. The guy pleads 'not guilty' to animal cruelty? As the blogger Tim pointed out, this is clearly a case of remorse at getting caught, not remorse for his heinous acts. I would not hesitate to label Michael Vick a sociopath (I believe cruelty to animals is recognized as one sign of sociopathic behavior). And the fact that his return to the NFL is even a possibility is sick, and is further proof of everything I think is wrong with professional "sports" and the special treatment afforded pro "athletes" in this country.
So, while I'm still tempted to say that he *could* be good for the message, I'm not sure he actually is based on what I've read - yeah he'll be an NFL star telling kids dog fighting is wrong, but what they could potentially see is some dude who treated animals in a morally reprehensible way, got off with basically a slap on the wrist, and still gets to be a role model (and maybe is even making millions again in the NFL). That is unacceptable.
Hmm...I must be pretty harsh, or else you guys are really big-hearted, but I'm not sure about this guy getting a second chance at anything. I just feel like his behavior exhibited such a tendency toward evil and disregard for life...can that ever go away?
I don't know, but I do love that the doggies are playing fetch and getting belly rubs now.
Hi Katie, nah, you're not harsh, I think we all agree! Thanks for stopping by the blog :)
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