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Dog-fighting is bad … yep, real bad
By Gina Spadafori
July 20, 2007
My e-mail this morning was filled with strongly worded statements about the Michael Vick situation from all manner of humane and animal-related groups. Guess what? They’re all against dog-fighting. Really, strongly very much against it. It’s, like, real bad. They want you to know they feel that way, um, very strongly.
Brave stand, folks, and thanks for your input. Now… maybe my old memory is starting to give way, but I just don’t remember such a flurry when pets were sick and dying from contaminated food. In fact, I remember a lot of silence, with the occasional cautious warning that preparing food at home for pets was generally not something to be undertaken by anyone without a doctoral level degrees in veterinary medicine and nutrition.
Dog-fighting is bad, but making sponsors and donors unhappy is apparently worse.
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Does anyone know what has happened to the dogs confiscated from the property?
Comment by Andrea 2CatMom — July 20, 2007 @ 8:48 am
Gina, exactly my sentiments when a mention was made in an earlier blog of TMZ having over 600 comments about this. Not that Im not glad that people feel so strongly about dog-fighting being a bad thing but we could have really used those 600 people helping us by sending their messages to FDA, Congress, news media, etc when the pet food poisonings occurred.
Comment by Sandi K — July 20, 2007 @ 10:07 am
Comment by Andrea
According to HSUS ,the 52 dogs are in shelters.
http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/.....nsion.html
They are evidence so all are probably still alive. I suspect that after the trial ,most will be destroyed. Vick undoubtedly will be charged with restitution for the expense of keeping them in shelters.
Hopefully Best Friends can step in and find a place for some in their Utah sanctuary.
Most of them are probably not adoptable.
Personally I wonder how the new tough Fed. law will affect Vic, since it only became effective in May of this year. Many of his alleged hideous crimes were prior to that date.
Comment by Serijna — July 20, 2007 @ 10:10 am
Every time one of those “renew now” letters appears in the mailbox - with those pictures of the cute cute cute kitties and puppies, I put it aside. It will take me a while to stop feeling a level of resentment about the pet deaths, the ones that weren’t apparently noticed. Where were these organizations, while bloggers (and thank you, all of you) and private concerned pet parents were taking the news to the world and keeping the story alive. Even now, I see very little action in taking the lead and applying institutional pressure to correct the abuses and make life easy for anyone raising and feeding a beloved animal. Cute little labels and notepads don’t endear you to me, it was my cute and lovable pup that died without you taking notice. That wasn’t HUMANE.
Comment by Nancy Nielsen — July 20, 2007 @ 10:28 am
Link for emailing Nike about dropping Vick.
https://nike-store.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nike_store.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php
Comment by Serijna — July 20, 2007 @ 10:38 am
I have to wonder if Nike and the NFL are waiting to see what happens in court and also how Vick’s lawyers plan to respond before dropping contracts and handing out suspensions.
Also, he may not get to wait until after the season to deal with this:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....V8oMQLMxIF
Comment by straybaby — July 20, 2007 @ 10:44 am
This article link pretty well defines what will happen to the 52 “saved” dogs from Vicks’ property. It is really appalling to me asking for donations for dogs that eventually will be killed.
http://badrap-blog.blogspot.co.....uilty.html
Comment by Serijna — July 20, 2007 @ 11:04 am
I agree with all of you. And the dogs are in the shelters. shelters that do have plenty of money, believe Me. And they are going to be put down when this is over.
By the way, Vick did show up in Federal Court late today. I don’t know what happened, but it was on the local news tonight. He had to sign some papers or somthing.
And i also agree with this- When My cats were dying and My dog was sick where were all the people? where was the outrage? Where was PETA then? Where were all the TV stations? It seems like it was , and still is just us. What’s going on?
Comment by Trudy Jackson — July 20, 2007 @ 6:30 pm
I happened to surf past Nancy Grace this evening and caught the very end of her piece on Vick. After the piece she had the numbers/websites to PETA and the Humane Society (I think) to donate to help the dogs.
I know some will disagree with me but I do think that both orgnizations have done some good animal related work, but not in the area of taking care/rehabilitating pit bulls.
Someone needs to let her know that these are not the organizations that are known for working with pit bulls.
Comment by Andrea 2CatMom — July 20, 2007 @ 8:12 pm
Where ever those 52 dogs are being housed now, remember that Vick when convicted(very high probability), he will be forced to pay(restitution) for all the expenses, vet care, housing etc incurred by the dogs, in the court judgment(. The shelter that has them now , probably views them as lucky cash cows. Sorry to be so blunt. Getting donations on top of that makes it a really sweet deal.
They will be very reluctant to surrender them to a “no kill place(s)” that will rehabilitate the dogs and give them a chance on a new life.
As for the HSUS, for the longest time they were anti cat and anti TNR. Since last year , they have changed their position on TNR(under pressure from their members and other animal groups). Maybe there is also hope for pit bulls as it applies to their current position.
Bottom line, puzzled why they are asking for donations, since the expenses will be covered by Vick, in the form of a court order.
I sense a form of dishonesty for not disclosing this little tidbit and using those poor poor dogs -destined to be killed - as a vehicle to drum up donations.
Almost makes you want to resign of the human race.
Wish the media did some in depth reporting on the 52 dogs and their fate.
.
Comment by Serijna — July 20, 2007 @ 9:18 pm
Serjina, if the dogs are in a shelter rather than in an animal control facility, that shelter will need donations. A “very high probability” of eventual restitution from Vick “someday”, at the end of what is likely to be a long, long legal proceeding, does exactly nothing to pay the bills right now—which is when those dogs need to be fed, and housed, and receive veterinary care.
The problem with HSUS encouraging donations to the HSUS for the care of the dogs, is that HSUS has no shelters and does not have the dogs.
Comment by Lis — July 21, 2007 @ 3:20 am
Oh, and a court order to pay the costs does not mean that the costs will actually be paid, even if/when that order comes, whenever this case eventually reaches that point.
Comment by Lis — July 21, 2007 @ 3:21 am
http://www.activistcash.com/or.....fm/oid/136
Comment by The OTHER Pat — July 21, 2007 @ 5:14 am
Lis - absolutely correct. I don’t believe that OJ has paid a dime of the multimillion civil suit he lost. A good lawyer can keep reparations in limbo almost indefinitely.
Comment by Andrea 2CatMom — July 21, 2007 @ 7:03 am
Big difference between a state civil suit and a Fed case. Unless he moves to another planet, very hard to get out of the restitution bit.
Anyway, on Nancy Grace last nite I heard that 66 dogs were confiscated. They are suppose to be in multiple secret locations.
The HSUS did lobby for many years to get the tough dog fighting Fed bill passed this year, that makes it a felony in all the 50 states as opposed to a misdemeanor.
Vick must be the most hated person in the USA at the moment.
If I were him, I would be scared to death to make any public appearance.
Comment by Serijna — July 21, 2007 @ 9:57 am
Serjina, you’re still missing two important points. One, restitution eventually, at the end of a case that could take years, does not pay the bills today. Two, Vick will both be spending lots of money on his defense, and having some very smart lawyers and accountants working on the problem of hiding or dispersing his assets. Even for the Feds, actually collecting can take years. More years, I mean, on top of the months or years it may take even to get to the point of getting an order for restitution.
In the meantime, those dogs still need to be housed, fed, and given medical care now. Those bills aren’t going to wait for a restitution order. And no, actually, most shelters aren’t rolling in excess dough.
Comment by Lis — July 21, 2007 @ 10:38 am
does anyone know where the dogs are? maybe the donations should go directly to where the dogs are. if they went to the same shelter, that can have quite an impact on funds and space.
it would also be nice to know if they are in a kill shelter or not. other dogs will have less time if they are holding Vick’s dogs until this is settled.
Comment by straybaby — July 21, 2007 @ 10:56 am
I’m not sure where they are, but they do keep showing them on the local TV news. Maybe I can check it out?
and please whoever said to send money to PETA is making a very big mistake. They do nothing but kill. i know that for a fact.
I’ll try to find out where the dogs are.
Comment by Trudy Jackson — July 21, 2007 @ 11:28 am
Apparently CNN is having a special tonight about dogfighting in the South. One of the segments that they showed a clip from was of dog-hog fights - where people bring their families including little kids!
Comment by Andrea 2CatMom — July 21, 2007 @ 2:27 pm
To Trudy—RE: the PETA ‘does nothing but kill’ reference
I know PETA raises strong feelings in a lot of people, but never have heard this before—what are you referring to here?
Comment by Anne — July 24, 2007 @ 11:12 am
I believe she’s referring to the fact that PETA employees took dogs from shelters in Virginia, leaving the impression that they would find them homes. In fact, the animals were euthanized and thrown into a dumpster by these PETA employees, who were brought up on charges.
Here’s one story on it. Plenty of others around. And there’s always Penn and Teller’s take on PETA, which is quite provocative.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — July 24, 2007 @ 11:45 am
Serijna and Lis, The HSUS offers an explanation of their response to the Vick indictment on their website (http://www.hsus.org/hsus_field....._vick.html). An excerpt:
After the seizure of more than 60 dogs following the raid on Vick’s property by local Virginia law enforcement officers, The HSUS initially provided several thousand dollars in financial assistance to Surry County for the animals’ treatment and care. We sought funds to help defray the anticipated costs of sheltering 52 pit bulls among these dogs for an indefinite interval. After a federal grand jury indicted Vick and three others, the costs of caring for them became a federal responsibility. We’ve offered to provide continuing assistance, but the federal government has decided to shoulder the burden on its own from this point forward.
All donations made to our appeals related to this case will be used exclusively for our campaign against dogfighting and cruelty. For 10 years, The HSUS has spearheaded national efforts to end this heinous activity. During this time, our investigators have worked with local law enforcement officials in some 100 major organized dogfight ring cases, providing expertise and assistance, testifying in trials, and caring for thousands of dogs maimed in the fighting pits. We have also helped to shepherd to passage nearly all of the current state and federal laws related to animal fighting. The HSUS has been the undisputed national leader in battling dogfighting and other forms of organized animal combat.
Comment by Meghan — July 24, 2007 @ 1:15 pm