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
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