On the matter of Michael Vick getting a dog
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My eyebrows did a little dance this morning when I saw the front-page headline: Vick says he’d like pet dog; anger follows.
The jump head was no less eyebrow-raising: Some say Vick should be permanently banned.
Why is Vick talking about this, now? He’s out of prison, he making a comback in football, he’s patching up his ruined finances. Is he so hungry for attention that he has to resort to statement like that to get it?
Now, I’m one of the folks who believe Vick got hammered too hard by Judge Henry Hudson (the same judge who made news earlier this week by agreeing, in part, with Virginia Attorney Ken Cuccinelli Ken Cuccinelli on his law suit against the health-care reform bill). He’s paid his debt to society.
But this was a dumb move on Vick’s part. All he did was give People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals an opening.
“Vick should be banned from owning dogs for life,” said Jane Dollinger, a PETA spokeswoman. “Just as convicted pedophiles aren’t allowed free access to children, anyone who is responsible for hanging, electrocuting or shooting dogs and who causes them to suffer in unimaginable ways should never again be allowed access to dogs.”
Really? Now they’re comparing him to pedophiles? That seems about as dumb as Vick opening his mouth on the subject in the first place.
Tell us what you think, folks.
December 17, 2010 - 9:43 AM
Sorry, I don’t really have a dog in this fight…
PETA only gets the “opening” you mentioned if the media reports what they have to say about it.
If the media would just ignore PETA they would just be another fring group.
The reason Vick mentioned it is because he was being interviewed and he was asked the question. Just as an alcoholic has to face the temptation of alcohol being available and deal with it, Vick also needs to deal with dogs as a pet rather than an outlet for violence.
All he said was that he would like to have a dog as a pet. Good Grief…..
But he’s such a nice boy. And he has paid his debt to society. And we allow convicted fellons to restore their voting “rights” (wonder if he has gone through that process?), SO why not let him have a puppy. Maybe a poodle or Peek or better yet peek a poo!
I don’t honestly thing a dog that Vick would have as a pet would be in any danger. He doesn’t have a compulsion to hurt animals…those pit bulls were part of a business (a sick one). But I would still find it very difficult to personally hand him a puppy. On some level it just seems like the wrong thing to do. I can’t explain that feeling though, it’s probably not rational.
You left out the guy from the Humane Society who said that, with time and support, Vick should be allowed to own a dog.
Is he on par with a child molester? No. Did he shoot, electrocute and throw dogs out of windows? Yes. There’s no constitutional right to own a dog, and since he’s still precluded by the courts from dog ownership for another year or so, he should probably just shut up about it.
He whines that his kids keep asking him for a dog. I wonder why he doesn’t tell them that they used to have an entire kennel of them.
Mr. Fleischer – Very droll sir, very droll.
Watching animals tear each other up for sport,and then murdering ones in several horrid ways makes this guy the lowest form.Not only should he not have a dog,but should be barred from the NFL for life.
If people saw the interview/video of his comments, they’d understand the context a little better. Part of the reasoning is for his daughters to have a pet around. Remember, they are being punished, too.
He just may be talking about it because he was asked about it.
As for PETA’s response – the organization is one of the biggest jokes in America. They are not worth the bandwidth.
Nice attitude, Jack. What do you advocate, that we support every person convicted of a crime via welfare and food stamps and Medicaid because you do not think they deserve a second chance and the ability to return to their livelihood?
Sorry for the comment, VVarlock! I just couldn’t resist the temptation…
“Remember, they are being punished, too.”
So let them get a cat. Or a guppy. This doesn’t even verge on being an issue. Plenty of kids don’t get puppies or ponies when they ask, for a variety of reasons.
Their biggest problem is that they have a father who had no problem engaging in a “business” like dog fighting. Not that they can’t have a puppy.
Jack – I think I see what you mean. Vick IS a disgrace.
I think PETA is a joke too, they are mostly out there to get publicity for themselves, not to help animals.
Humane Society is a great organization however. As far as Vick and the family, they could get a cat, there are lots needing a home.
He must be a total idiot. Fly under the radar. Why even say the word “dog” if you are him and bring ANY negative attention to yourself? You just can’t fix stupid.
@#9: I’m partly with Jack on this, and he was not remotely implying that we support Vick. Vick is an able-bodied young man. Although it may take much longer in this economy than usual, Vick could find a variety of jobs which do not taint the NFL with the stench of his sins. Everybody deserves forgiveness, but some actions have life-long consequences, and playing for the NFL should be treated by the NFL as a privilege which Vick will never deserve. Earning a much smaller living doing something which is not such a privilege would be one of those consequences.
Jack is right in his characterization of the viciousness of what Vick did. The details are too horrid to recount.
Where I disagree with Jack is on whether Vick should ever be permitted to have a dog again. I side with the reported position of the Human Society on this, both for the sake of Vick’s children and for his own well-being as a human. Vick strikes me as a profoundly self-centered and immature man who is as inadept at handling his emotions as he is adept at football. Benign interaction with one of the most noble beasts on earth, the canine, is used as an effective form of therapy for people with Vick’s condition, including some prison inmates. Having a dog which is showered with affection by his children and is monitored for abuse (which I am sure there would be plenty of volunteers to do!) could be great for his children and could help this overgrown adolescent to mature.
I think the football issue is completely separate from the dog ownership one. He’s paid his legal debt to society. As long as he can throw and run and score the way he can, there will still be people who will hire him and still be people who will pay to see him. I like watching him play. Do I consider him a “role model”? Of course not.
Nor is he required to be.
It would seem most football fans have forgiven Vick for his transgressions, given that he continues to lead the fan voting in the Pro Bowl.
9.”Nice attitude, Jack. What do you advocate, that we support every person convicted of a crime via welfare and food stamps and Medicaid because you do not think they deserve a second chance and the ability to return to their livelihood?”
To tell you the truth,I have more respect for an animal than humans.He should get what he gave..Why dont we have him fight to the death for our entertainment,and then execute him if he loses?Thats the fate he issued to those poor animals.
Vick’s actions were despicable. He was tried, found guilty, paid the price
for those actions under our laws, and suffered a much greater price both
financially and to his reputation than the one paid for by his legal
obligation. He shows evidence so far of having learned from his mistake
and of having a better attitude. He deserves a second chance. He is getting it. For the moment, keep him away from dogs or pets. Down the road
if he continues on his present road and stays out of trouble, then I think
he should have that chance too. He might just turn out to be a person who
gets it and makes up for some of the harm he has done.
He may have “paid his debt to society” but the bigger issue here is not that he committed a crime and was punished but what led him to commit the crime in the first place.
What kind of person does such a thing? You cannot be a compassionate, moral, loving human being and do the things that he did. I cannot even imagine this guy owning another animal, much less being a parent.
As far as I am concerned he is unworthy of the accolades that come his way.
OK, one more time. Dogs are animals; not people. Bill Clinton damaged his family and, therefore, society far worse by his infidelities than Vick ever did with his dog fighting.
Vick has kissed way too much PC a%%. It’s time for it to stop.
“You cannot be a compassionate, moral, loving human being and do the things that he did.”
You could also apply that to George W. Bush who killed, wounded or displaced millions of people in the name of one-upping his daddy. All Clinton got was a hummer, a sociopath is a sociopath, right, Butch? I mean, you being one, and all.
OK, I scrolled up and didn’t see anyone else mention Clinton. Did anyone else see it?
Because if not, someone needs to run over to Suzie’s room at the Sanitarium and check that she is taking her meds. Seriously, in a thread about Vick and Dogs she manages to come up with Clinton.
Well at least she didn’t sign this one.
#20 Loose screws Suz,
Yeah, I hear you, Suz. Clinton caused much more damage with his extramarital affair then Vick did by killing, what, like only 10 or so dogs? I mean, killing a dog is just a mere felony. President Clinton, not to mention John Ensign, David Vitter, Larry Craig, Mark Sanford, Vito Fossella, John McCain, Newt Gingrich, Bob Barr, Henry Hyde, Helen Chenoweth, Dan Burton, Bob Livingston, Don Sherwood and John Edwards.
To review, Suz, Vick got 21 months for killing dogs. Of the 15 people I cited, the cumulative time that they spent in jail is represented by a big ol’ goose egg. Felony charges? Nada. Divorce papers? Si, in some cases.
You are entitled to your confused version of social norms. The rest of our culture will stick with reality, thank you very much. BTW, Hillary and Chelsea seem to have recovered just fine. How’s Vick’s old fighting dog’s doing?
#20 That’s absolutely the faultiest argument imaginable, troll. You couldn’t have made a more senseless statement if had sat around working on it for two weeks. Only a troll like you would call enforcing laws against the cruelty of dogfighting “PC.”
First and foremost, what Clinton did or didn’t do has nothing on Earth to do with this topic. Second, Vick tortured and slaughtered dogs and he apparently thoroughly enjoyed watching them suffer. That takes a really, really sick individual.
Vick has indeed paid his penalty and he’s on his way back as an athlete. I applaud his accomplishments on the filed. Fortunately, it’s not up to your ignorant rear end when he has to stop kissing butt.
It seems to me the media as taken Vick’s comments out of context and are being used to generate interest or affect Vick play on the field more than out of any sympathy towards animals. This speech Vick gave happened more than 2 weeks ago on Dec.1 and the media has been picking up on it slowly but surely, making a mountain out of a mole Hill. Vick paid his debt and he’s working hard to reach out to at risk kids and mentor them not to make the mistakes he made. I agree, he should be able to own a dog someday. This is America and Vick has paid for his mistake.
Here are Vicks comments more in the context than the baloney going are the media now:
“The Michael Vick Redemption Tour landed in Newark, NJ this week where the convicted dog fighter told a crowd of young people that he wishes he could have a dog again “more than anything in the world.”
Say what? Vick may put a puppy on his Christmas list, but under terms of his probation he may not own a dog.
Speaking to an audience at a Boys and Girls Club on Tuesday, Vick told the children he was “naive” when he got into dog fighting as an 8-year-old on the streets of Newport News, Va., but that he “should have known better.”
It was the first time in the roughly half dozen appearances in five different cities that Vick appeared to have acknowledged the pain he caused to untold numbers of animals that he confessed to torturing.
“I should have known better,” Vick said during his 15 minute speech, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. “(Animals) have pains, they have feelings and they have emotions.”
He told the children the reports of the cruel treatment he inflicted on dogs, including hanging dogs and slamming dogs to the ground when they lost in the fighting ring, were true except for the electrocution. “That never happened,” he said.
Vick has been speaking out against dog fighting since he completed his federal prison sentence last summer and began a partnership with the Humane Society of the United States.
On Monday he returned to his hometown, speaking to middle schoolers in Newport News. He told them to learn from his mistakes and to treat animals with respect.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/pets/Vick_tells_NJ_kids_he_wants_a_dog_more_than_anything.html
More than anything, it seems to me with the timing of this story coming out, 2 weeks after the fact, someone is looking to get into Vick’s head before the big game which will decide the NFL conference east.
Wow. Bush is a sociopath because he killed some terrorists and protected America. Obama is not a sociopath even though he is killing our kids for no apparent reason, and with no objective in mind. Clinton lied under oath, and neglected his presidential duties which led to the 9-11 attacks, raped a supporter, and cheated with countless other women, yet he’s not a sociopath.
This is how leftwing kooks think. Thank goodness the electorate shoved them back to fringe status.
As for Vick, I’m tired of his kissing these people’s asses. We had PTI on awhile back, and they were comparing the offenses on the careers of Vick, Tiger Woods, and Bret Favre. Tony Kornheiser, an avowed leftwinger, made it clear he thought Vick was an abominable human being, as if his crimes were more damaging to society than Tiger Woods cheating on his wife, doing irreparable damage to his children, and using numerous women.
I’m telling you this is how the left thinks.
Suzie, you may believe Tiger Woods’ actions were worse than Vick’s, and more harmful, whatever. But crimes? Woods was convicted of no crime. Nor was he charged with one.
I feel bad for the kids in situations like Tiger’s. However, as far as I know, all his girlfriends were adults and willing participants – no better or no worse than him. Any or all of them could have turned him down – they had the choice.
#27 Tiger Woods damaging society? I’d say that the lesson learned from Woods is that you play around like he did and you suffer public humiliation, lose tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars, lose your family, and appear to suddenly lose your talent. I think society might have learned some valuable lessons instead of being damaged. Same with Vick.
I never used the word “crime” in connection with Tiger Woods’ offenses.
Vick has 3 kids. What Dad doesn’t want their kids to have a pet if they want one? If anyone ever watched The Michael Vick Project on BET a few months ago, he talked a lot about how much it bothered him that he wouldn’t be able to give his kids a puppy once they were old enough to have one.
When Vick is talking to kids about dog fighting, pointing out that he isn’t allowed to have a dog, and talking about how much he’d love to be allowed to have a dog for him and his kids to take care of, is a great point to make with kids who love their own puppies and dogs. There’s nothing wrong with Vick mentioning that this part of his punishment (not being allowed to have a dog) is having the desired effect on his life of feeling like a punishment for his past crimes.