Michael Vick goes to jail

As we all now know, former, and maybe future, NFL star, Michael Vick drew a 23-month jail sentence for his involvement in dog fighting--more because he lied to the judge rather than for the act of owning a dog fighting kennel or for the dogs that are routinely injured and killed by this so-called sport.

I like animals and would not knowing hurt one. On the other hand I am an unabashed carnivore and I have always wanted a mink coat. While this sometimes means that I agree with PETA, it also means I am barred from membership, but PETA would probably accept my contribution. I'm like the rest of the world, we eat what we think of as food and if I lived in China, that might include snakes, which I pathologically fear. If I were a member of PETA, I would have written "whom" instead of "which."

I'm also told that as a white Northerner, I do not understand regional and cultural differences. I'm all about diversity and acceptance, but I draw the line at a so-called sport that requires the torture of animals that does nothing more than make the two-legged animals at the top of the food chain richer. But how do I square that with the fact that I make poultry farmers wealthy every time I chow down on fried chicken? To answer that, I turn, again, to the movies (where all life's questions are answered). In the underrated Culpepper Cattle Company, a young cooks helper asks the name of a cowboy's horse, "I don't name nothin' I might have to eat," replies the cowboy. And therein lies the difference.

I have read that there are more pet dogs in the United States than there are people in the United Kingdom. We, in the US, think of our pets as part of the family. We give them names. We buy them sweaters. We become litigious when we discover that money grubbing pet food manufacturers use the same formula (regardless of consumer cost) to buy preparations made in China, where pets are food, that are laced with poison. That's the society in which we live. If there was some cataclysmic event tomorrow and food became scarce, we might literally have Fido or Fluffy for dinner, but right now, dogs and cats, birds and lizards, and guppies are pets. We don't eat pets. We don't purposely set one dog on another for money.

And while I am certain that Michael Vick is sorry that he was caught and is now in jail, I am not so sure he understands why dog fighting is wrong. Although dog fighting is illegal in the United States, law enforcement doesn't always take it seriously (in their defense, there is a whole lot of other crime with which to contend). I'm also not sure that the kennel Vick co-owned would have caught national media attention without Vick's involvement. Still, this sorry case brought a serious problem to public attention. Dog fighting has been around for centuries and most people think of it as unsavory but acceptable as long as it doesn't involve a family pet or happen in their backyards. But according to Stephanie LaFarge, Ph.D., Senior Director, ASPCA Counseling Services, "Dog fighters represent a range of personality types and psychological disorders. School life offers them little fulfillment and humiliates them into doing socially unacceptable things in an environment where beating the system is the goal." And that should concern us. People who come from chaotic homes and who live in an environment of limited social or economic opportunity will find other ways to make themselves feel powerful and wealthy. Some sell crack, others fight dogs.

I know nothing about Michael Vick other than what I read in the papers. Apparently from modest means, Vick played ball well enough to attend college. Unfortunately, football outweighed education and Vick left school in his sophomore year. He may play ball well enough that he will return to the field after serving his time. Do you see the similarities? Michael Vick was valued for what he could do in a sport, not for who he is as a person. No matter what he does, if his team can continue to make money on Michael Vick, he will continue to play football. And when he stops playing well, out he goes into an uncertain future. Maybe if someone had treated Michael Vick with greater respect, he would have some understanding of why torturing animals for money is not a good idea.