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Michael Vick
Lest I do any more hijacking of someone else's blog on this subject...
As you know from my frequent posts, I love dogs. Love 'em love 'em love 'em. And all other animals, too, (well, maybe not spiders!) I do not love most of the laws on the books in the USA regarding animal cruelty. They're way too lenient and far too often let people get away with a fine or probation for doing horrific things to animals. Legally, I believe a category should be created between 'property' and 'person' for animals, giving much more value to an animal's life and wellbeing than to an inanimate object. I'd be perfectly happy to treat animals as people for legal purposes, but there are far too many people who would never accept that, hence the middle ground. I also believe police should be accountable for their actions when shooting family pets, as that seems to be happening a lot these days.
As to Vick himself, I'd have preferred he spent at least 5 years in prison. But, with the laws as they are, we're lucky he went to prison at all. Take the interstate betting out of the equation and he wouldn't have served any time. At least he spent some time behind bars, lost his job and all his money, and has to start (mostly) from scratch, which is more than most animal abusers have to do. I don't have a problem with the NFL reinstating him, once Vick completed his sentence they couldn't legally bar him any longer and he surely would sue them if they tried. But I hope, uselessly I'm sure, but I hope no team will sign him. If no one signs him, that would be one big public slap in the face. Meanwhile, if someone does sign him - he hasn't played in years and frankly would probably look like he hadn't played in years. He'll likely look a fool on the field. Any team that signed him would wind up with a deeply divided fan base, protests, boycotts, etc. And on the road - forget deeply divided. Try wholeheartedly opposed. There is no upside to giving Vick a job, for anyone.
Of course, the NFL being what it is, all you need is one dumb team (Oakland, Washington, Dallas) or one injury to a first string quarterback and Vick will get one more chance. Hopefully, he blows it (on the field) and provides one last example of why dogfighting - and any other felonious activity - is a really bad idea.
As you know from my frequent posts, I love dogs. Love 'em love 'em love 'em. And all other animals, too, (well, maybe not spiders!) I do not love most of the laws on the books in the USA regarding animal cruelty. They're way too lenient and far too often let people get away with a fine or probation for doing horrific things to animals. Legally, I believe a category should be created between 'property' and 'person' for animals, giving much more value to an animal's life and wellbeing than to an inanimate object. I'd be perfectly happy to treat animals as people for legal purposes, but there are far too many people who would never accept that, hence the middle ground. I also believe police should be accountable for their actions when shooting family pets, as that seems to be happening a lot these days.
As to Vick himself, I'd have preferred he spent at least 5 years in prison. But, with the laws as they are, we're lucky he went to prison at all. Take the interstate betting out of the equation and he wouldn't have served any time. At least he spent some time behind bars, lost his job and all his money, and has to start (mostly) from scratch, which is more than most animal abusers have to do. I don't have a problem with the NFL reinstating him, once Vick completed his sentence they couldn't legally bar him any longer and he surely would sue them if they tried. But I hope, uselessly I'm sure, but I hope no team will sign him. If no one signs him, that would be one big public slap in the face. Meanwhile, if someone does sign him - he hasn't played in years and frankly would probably look like he hadn't played in years. He'll likely look a fool on the field. Any team that signed him would wind up with a deeply divided fan base, protests, boycotts, etc. And on the road - forget deeply divided. Try wholeheartedly opposed. There is no upside to giving Vick a job, for anyone.
Of course, the NFL being what it is, all you need is one dumb team (Oakland, Washington, Dallas) or one injury to a first string quarterback and Vick will get one more chance. Hopefully, he blows it (on the field) and provides one last example of why dogfighting - and any other felonious activity - is a really bad idea.