Dear Editor,
On 60 Minutes a few weeks ago, former Atlanta Falcons football player Michael Vick was interviewed by James Brown after being released from prison. James Brown did a good interview in holding Michael Vick accountable for his inhumane actions towards pitbulls. While in prison, lying on his bunk, Vick said he was able to reflect on the terrible decisions he made for many years and the culture he thought was “right, cool, fun and exciting.” Vick and his friends ran Bad Newz Kennels for 6 years, buying, breeding, selling, fighting and, yes, even killing, pitbulls.
On April 25, 2007, while conducting a drug search at the home of Michael Vick in Virginia, investigators found 66 extremely sick dogs, including 55 pitbulls; 8 more dead animals were exhumed and equipment typically used in dogfighting was confiscated. They included a “rape stand” that held aggressive female dogs in place for mating and a “break stick” used to pry open a dog’s mouth, amongst other grisly finds. Aggressive female dogs’ teeth were pulled so that the males could mate without being bitten.
James Brown said to Vick in the interview, “You were convicted of beating, shooting, drowning and electrocuting dogs (one losing dog was wet down and electrocuted), horrific things Michael.” Dogs were also killed when they refused to fight. Vick’s only excuse, “It was wrong.” Vick claims he was driven by competition and is now sickened, feels disgust and deserves to loose his millions for his actions. He also said things like “love your animals” was not heard when he was a kid, and introduced to this blood sport he said police would drive through their neighbourhoods, see dogs fighting and just drive off. So he thought it was ok. It was further revealed that dogs that were not killed in the fighting and lost the match were often ‘executed’ by hanging, drowned or in one case being slammed to the ground. Michael Vick was consulted before one losing dog was wet down and electrocuted. For many of us animal lovers the graphic details of what happened to these dogs were too emotional to read.
Present at the interview on 60 Minutes was the President of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) Wayne Parcelle, whose organization gave evidence to help put Vick in prison. Parcelle remains skeptical, but enlisted Vick as an anti-dog fighting ambassador; he thinks Vick can help fix the problem and turn things around. Parcelle claims in the US there are over 40,000 professional dog fighters promoting 100,000 street fights in every part of the country, rural and urban. People he says, enjoy watching dogs fight and they are excited by the blood-letting and betting on the winners. The fights last between 10 mins and 3 hrs and the dogs die from shock, horrific bites and blood loss, although some survive to suffer and compete again.
Michael Vick initially pleaded not guilty, but changed his plea to guilty to dog fighting to avoid a gambling charge. Since 2001 this star of NFL has received over 60 million in salary and endorsements; he threw away the American dream by being involved in an illegal dog-fighting and betting ring. On Aug 27, 2007 he apologized to people all around the world for the hurt he caused, and appealed to young people not to follow his bad judgement.
Vick now claims he cares about animals, but his future actions will speak louder than words. He is a living example of what not to do, and he hopes his voice will have an impact on kids. The HSUS has high expectations of Vick. So does the rest of the world.
Here in Guyana we have some people who think of themselves as ‘role models’ who are into pitbull fighting, we hope they and others will learn from Michael Vick’s experience.
Please respect and love your animals.
Yours faithfully,
S Manbodh
