Monday, August 31, 2009

Before You Say "He Did His Time For His Crimes" Know The Facts First About Vicks Deal Share

Before You Say "He Did His Time For His Crimes" Know The Facts First About Vicks Deal
Share
Fri at 7:49pm


For everyone that has participated in the Victimization of Vick with all of the comments of
"He did his time, he paid for his crimes" - think again.

Perhaps, you should be aware of the facts of this case and more informed of the actual
"crime" this man paid of his debt to society. Perhaps, you would then think twice before
complacently handing out your second chance arguments and support.

If your mind still forms the argument of "We all make mistakes" - perhaps you will feel differently knowing that children are sporting dog masks to football games mocking the dead victims of his crimes. Laughing - joking - making fun - in support of their great idol with their parents right behind them screaming "To hell with Dogs - we love Vick".

If this would not lower your head in shame, then I fear for the monsters this has unleashed in division across this United States in support of this great american hero.

Michael Vick "did his time" for Federal Racketeering, he served his prison sentence for Federal Racketeering - ONLY.

The crimes, the heinous acts and crimes of Animal Cruelty - Michael Vick plead "Not Guilty".

In a brokered Plea Agreement, the charges of Animal Cruelty were dismissed. Thus, unpunished were these crimes, by this man, against humanity.

The known, proven, admitted crimes of murder, rape, and torture of innocent defenseless beings was thrown out - dismissed - in the Plea Agreement.

The crimes in which, Michael Vick, systematically, prepared, planned, participated and executed, repeatedly, against these animals, was left unpunished in the legal justice system.

This is a known public record of fact.


Below are the opinions of Michael Vick's deserved second chance by Bad Rap's Tim Racer and Donna Reynolds.

Tim Racer -
It is no mystery that Michael Vick wants another chance at the game, the money, and the fame that he once possessed. I am all about forgiveness and second chances – when one is truly remorseful . There is of course a world of difference between feeling badly about a wrong doing, and feeling badly about being caught. Who knows where Roger Goodell stands on this? I am disappointed that there has to be so much time spent to make such a seemingly simple decision about whether this man should ever play the game again. He ran a major felony dog-fighting operation since he first became a professional ball player – for his entire six year career. He fought and he killed countless innocent animals, some by repeatedly slamming their skulls and spines into the ground until they broke. What exactly *does it take to be released from the NFL?

Twenty three months in prison does not make a sick (in the truly medical sense of the term) individual like Vick, better. Mike has teamed up with the HSUS to to good things now. His agents made it so. Good move. Maybe that will help him play again.

For those who believe Vick has paid his dues, I would have to differ. He has not and will not spend a single day behind bars for animal cruelty as his federal charges were for racketeering. And as for remorse, Vick pled NOT GUILTY to animal cruelty charges at his state trial – and it was dropped in a plea deal. How can this man be remorseful for his crimes if he does not even believe he was cruel to animals?


Donna Reynolds -
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.

So that's where I'm at. A second chance for Vick?
An HSUS sponsored spokesman for ending torture? In my mind's eye Vick is still in the shadows at the side of that pool. As many times as this scene plays out my head, he hasn't yet moved towards that dog to pull him out. Not there yet.


*Bad Rap Statements Courtesy of: Bad Rap Vick Dog Blog/Behind the scenes*

Copyright 2009 Shelley Bright - Tucsondogexaminer@gmail.com

Friday, August 28, 2009

Slappy and her 6 chews...

Mark and I went upstairs last night to find Slappy hoarding chews (what is new?). I laughed and said "good lord, she must have like 5 of them..." and I turned on the light to find that she had SIX! That dog stole five chews from the other dogs. What a freakin' pig!

As I took them away and gave them back to their rightful owner, she gave me the most pathetic look ever...

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Tomatoes are being killed by "Late Blight"

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/dining/29toma.html?scp=6&sq=tomato&st=cse

I think this is what happened to our tomatoes...

Monday, August 17, 2009

Pit Bull Hate Crimes are up in Philly-


Gypsy
Originally uploaded by formatted_dad
As are crimes against service dogs, and all other breeds... Thanks Michael Vick, your remorse obviously resonated with your "fans"...

http://badrap-blog.blogspot.com/2009/08/woe-is-philly.html

Michael Vick- As written by Alison Saunders...

A hero and good friend of mine...

Respectfully, what I think people fail to recognize here is a very serious correlation between violence to animals and violence to humans, and the reach of dogfighting as a crime. The HSUS offers a course called "First Strike" which shows the research done in this area. An overwhelming majority of people that abuse animals will move onto human victims. Michael Vick didn't just kill these dogs, he tortured them and then killed them in the most barbaric ways, taking pleasure in the act. You know who else did this? Pretty much every serial killer known to man. It frightens me when I hear people basically reduce this to "it's just dogs".

I'm sure that those of us involved specifically in pit bull rescue are probably more sensitive to what is going on here. We see the victims of this crime daily. We nurse the wounds where limbs used to be, we feed the dogs whose teeth have been ripped out by their "owners", and we love them because through all of this - they still love humans. These are animals that were domesticated by us more than 3000 years ago, they rely on us to provide everything for them, much like children. They are the most innocent creatures on earth. When I see someone abuse a dog it's the same to me as someone abusing an infant. They have no voice of their own and they are not capable of evil.

It's easy to reduce this to "there are more important things". Maybe we do that too much and we don't take the time to look at the bigger picture. To me, these dogs are my children. Imagine someone electrocuting your child, or slamming them to the ground until they were dead, or hanging them from the tree. That's what I feel when I see what Michael Vick did. Michael Vick didn't kill a couple of dogs, he was involved in dog fighting for almost 20 years. Do the math. And I'd also ask you to do some research on dogfighting if you think it doesn't affect you. Dogfighters use the sport to desensitize children to violence and make them capable of unspeakable acts, unspeakable acts against people. So if you don't care how many dogs Michael Vick killed, maybe you'll care how many monsters he helped create or how many children were/are affected by this heinous crime.

In one case in Chicago a young boy was arrested for dogfighting. The next time the detective saw the boy he was 12 years old and being brought in for his involvement in the rape of a 7 year old girl. It's "normal" for children to be present at dogfights, along with drugs and guns. It's also "normal" for someone exposed to this kind of violence to lose their empathy. If you think this isn't a serious issue I'd ask that you take another look. Michael Vick has been involved in dogfighting since he was 8 years old, along with his friends, and countless others in countless cities across the nation. It's happening today, probably in your neighborhood. The crimes that affect you may very well have their roots in dogfighting. I would consider that a real enemy of civilization and peace.

http://www.lolabull.com/dogfighting

Memphis Pictures are up! Finally!

Arkansas or bust!

100_5219

Clinton Library!
100_5228

Tennessee!

100_5236


Some Jazz on Beale Street!


In line for our Graceland Tour!

100_5238

GRACELAND!

100_5242
100_5245


The JUNGLE room!
100_5264

Awesome!
100_5286

Proof?
100_5289

Yeah... I have been to Mississippi!

Mississippi!!!

Memphis BBQ!

Neely's: Our favorite!
Best BBQ we had in memphis!

Slaw on the pork: 100_5308

Turkey was phenomenal!
100_5309

Sassy BBQ?
This place was nothing compared to the Neely's Interstate BBQ!

Chicken was good... sauce was lacking
Chicken was cooked well

Pork was good too: Great meat, terrific slaw

One of the best museums we had ever been to!
STAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sun Studios!

100_5353

My rockstar walking on the same sidewalk as the legends!
Sun Studios

He really didn't want to take this picture, but I forced him.
100_5345

The Peabody Hotel in Memphis where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. It was chilly and weird. We got there too late to go into the Civil Rights Museum... Next time!

Where MLK was assassinated :(

Cape Girardeau, MO- cute little town on the Mississippi!
The flood wall in Cape Girardeau, MO

The Mississippi is a scary river when you're that close. We saw trees floating by at like 30 mph!

Mark standing at the Mississip

New Foster Dog!


Meet Abbie!

She is our new foster dog who was pretty much destined to die, and somehow survived to become one of the sweetest girls we have ever met!

http://mabbr.org/dogpages/abbie.html

Abbie was abandoned at a vet clinic in an area with a breed ban. She was positive for parvo and dying. The vets took her into their clinic, treated her, spayed her, and got her up to date on vaccinations. Unfortunately, nobody in the clinic lived in an area that allows American Pit Bull Terriers. Abbie was so special, so sweet and so loving that they contacted everyone they could think of to save this sweet girl. MABBR was able to work with the vets office and get her into an adoring fostering home immediately. Nobody knew if Abbie was good with other dogs but she came into a house with 4 resident dogs and was very nervous. We gave her a few days to relax and get comfortable with us, and we started letting her say hello from behind the gate and she wiggled and wagged her tail. One day, she was able to play with the alpha female of the group and had a great time. Within 2 days of being brought into the house, she was fully integrated into the pack.

Friday, August 14, 2009

We're going home!


Michigan map postcard
Originally uploaded by Smaddy
Mark and I are planning a trip home to Michigan for Labor Day! We're going home from the 2nd-7th!

YAY!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Sad, Dead Tomato Plant

Mark and my tomato plant went to tomato heaven :( We think it had a disease and it wasn't happy.

Good bye little tomato!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Happy 2-Year Anniversary to the Absolute Love of My Life!

Two years ago today, Mark Alan Hanses married me...
_MG_7325

That was the best day of my life.
_MG_7055

I love you! Happy 2 years!

_MG_7100

Monday, August 3, 2009

Dogs at the Lake!


We went back to the lake this past weekend and brought Pokey. She was able to be a feral beast for the first time!

Pokey, Slappy, Penny, Oscar and Jack spent the day running around and swimming. Penny (MABBR Alumni)& Oscar are two pit bulls that belong to a friends brother, and Jack is the lab that my friend Lindsey owns.

They had a ball!