Written by Jeff Mackey
If he had any shame or decency, federally convicted dog murderer Michael Vick wouldn't dream of suggesting that it is somehow "unfair" (his word) to suggest that he shouldn't have another dog. But now he's out in TV Land promoting a book and expressing his desire to give his son a dog. Perhaps he'd have a hard time explaining to his son what Daddy did with the last "pet" dogs who lived in the house: Vick threw them into the fighting pit and laughed his head off while they were torn apart.
A suspected victim of dogfighting whom PETA staffers were able to rescue with the help of local law enforcement officials.
Since PETA was instrumental in efforts to make sure that Vick's crimes were taken seriously, people naturally want to know our opinion of Vick's hopes of getting his hands on another dog. As PETA's president, Ingrid E. Newkirk, who met privately with Vick when he attended our animal empathy course following his 2007 arrest, expressed it:
PETA knows from firsthand experience that Michael Vick is a selfish man and a proven liar, probably a psychopath, who, if he had one grain of remorse, would never go near another dog as long as he lives. All things considered, it is a very small price to pay, especially compared to the suffering endured by the dogs who were abused and killed at the Bad Newz Kennels. Michael Vick lied to my face about how he loved his pet dogs and didn't see them as the same as the dogs he forced to fight to the death. That was before it was revealed that he threw those dogs into the pit—and laughed while they were torn apart. Just as convicted pedophiles aren't allowed free access to children, anyone who is responsible for hanging, electrocuting, and shooting dogs and who caused them to suffer in other unimaginable ways should never again be allowed to be within 50 feet of a dog.
PETA knows from firsthand experience that Michael Vick is a selfish man and a proven liar, probably a psychopath, who, if he had one grain of remorse, would never go near another dog as long as he lives. All things considered, it is a very small price to pay, especially compared to the suffering endured by the dogs who were abused and killed at the Bad Newz Kennels.
Michael Vick lied to my face about how he loved his pet dogs and didn't see them as the same as the dogs he forced to fight to the death. That was before it was revealed that he threw those dogs into the pit—and laughed while they were torn apart.
Just as convicted pedophiles aren't allowed free access to children, anyone who is responsible for hanging, electrocuting, and shooting dogs and who caused them to suffer in other unimaginable ways should never again be allowed to be within 50 feet of a dog.
Vick needs to teach his children that actions have consequences, that people who can't be trusted with animals shouldn't have any, and that it's important to take responsibility for our choices and to make better choices going forward—like not getting another dog. First, he'd have to learn those lessons himself.
PETA continues to make strides against the hideous cruelty of animal fighting. Learn more about dogfighting and how you can help stop this merciless blood sport.
Written by PETA
While Nike the shoe company is named after Nike the Greek goddess of victory, unfortunately, in dogfighting, there are only losers: Even the victors end up in the grinder at the end of the day. Nike seems to have forgotten that little fact, as the company is reportedly now supplying Michael Vick with "product," although it says it has not signed a promotional contract with the disgraced former dogfighter and current NFL QB.
This begs the question posed in a letter sent by PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk to Nike President and CEO Mark Parker: Why is Nike giving free swag to a guy who admitted laughing when he tossed "family pets" into the ring and watched them get ripped to shreds by trained fighting dogs? Is this a guy you want parading around Philly displaying the Nike swoosh? Unless Nike aspires to corner the bottom-feeding dogfighting market, this plan seems designed to have the company's competitors cheering.
We hope you'll contact Nike, too, and let the company know that if it aspires to alienate anybody and everybody who's ever loved a dog—and to encourage them to change their brand away from Nike—it is sure to be, er, Vick-torious.
Written by Alisa Mullins
Ever since notorious dog abuser Michael Vick got out of jail and was signed by the apparently desperate Philadelphia Eagles, there has been a lot of discussion in the press and at your local humane society and sports bar about the ethics of his return to the NFL—and all the other issues that go along with it.
Now, the Washington Post (along with media outlets everywhere) is reporting that Nike might again be teaming up with Vick for product endorsements.
Today in the Post's special online NFL feature, "The League," PETA's own Dan Shannon cuts through the noise with a guest post on the subject. Dan puts it bluntly when he writes, "If Nike and other companies know what's best for the bottom line, they won't touch Michael Vick with a 10-foot pole."
Read the whole post here.
Huge thumbs up to Wyoming and Idaho! It’s wonderful to have legislators in all 50 states recognize that forcing dogs to tear each other to shreds in a bloody pit is a felony level crime that must be taken seriously. Sometimes a high-profile scandal like the Vick case shocks people in high places into officially recognizing that we simply can’t keep turning a blind eye to atrocities that are going on around us. Whatever the catalyst, a result like this one is something to celebrate.
As of this week, when Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal signed legislation to make dogfighting a felony in his state (following Idaho’s similar decision last week), every state in the U.S. considers participating in dogfighting to be a felony offense. A huge thank you to the governors of both of these states for taking this compassionate step forward.
I’m looking forward to the day when I can announce that foie gras is illegal in all 50 states as well. We’ll get there.
The Knocked Up star, who was all over the celeb blogs a couple of weeks ago in our new “Have a PETA Day” T-shirt, was spotted today rocking the “Crow and Roach” tee made for PETA by Spiders & Caviar. Thank you, Katherine—you look stunning. TMZ has the story here.
Hundreds of PETA members and other concerned citizens gathered outside the Michael Vick hearing in Richmond today to ask that the court send a message to any dogfighters that this horrific blood sport will not be tolerated, and that its practitioners will be penalized to the fullest extent of the law. The latest news is that Michael Vick has been sentenced to 23 months in prison, which is almost twice the amount initially recommended by prosecutors. We’re still waiting to hear for certain whether he has received a ban on contact with animals, which is an essential provision in any cruelty case, given the high likelihood of repeat offenses where animal abuse is concerned.
Vick will be facing state charges following his federal sentencing, and we’re calling on State Prosecutor Gerald Poindexter to consider this case with the same seriousness that has been applied to his federal sentencing—i.e., to make sure this admitted animal torturer is made to answer in full for the crimes he has committed. I’ll post updates with any breaking news as this case develops, but in the meantime, you can write to Mr. Poindexter through this page to remind him that vigorous prosecution is essential in cruelty cases like this one in order to prevent repeat offenses and to deter others from committing similar crimes.
Given the high-profile nature of this case, the statement made today and at the state proceeding will have a far-reaching effect on prosecution of dogfighters for years to come, and we need to ensure that Mr. Poindexter follows in the footsteps of the federal authorities and demonstrates for the countless people following this case that Virginia will not tolerate cruelty to animals.
Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips were sentenced today to 18 and 21 months in prison on federal charges related to a dogfighting operation that they had been running in Virginia. We’re obviously very happy that these guys are going to be serving time for their crimes against animals, but the other key provision here is that they will not be allowed to “own” dogs for three years following their release from prison. If it were up to me, they would be banned from any contact with animals for life, but you take what you can get, and restrictions on “ownership” of animals are vitally important (and sadly, often overlooked) in any cruelty case, as repeat offenses are the norm. This provision was something that PETA had specifically asked for, and we know of no other federal case where defendants have been banned from owning animals. Purnell Peace was in tears at the sentencing and personally apologized to PETA and other animal groups for his role in these crimes—which, well, it’s nice to see some remorse, but we weren’t victims here, the dogs were, and there’s not much that an apology can do for them now. Let’s hope that this sentencing sets a strong example for any of the bastards who still think they can get away with torturing animals and forcing them to fight for amusement or profit.
Michael Vick is set to be sentenced on December 10.
Well to be fair, this is more of a Part 1-revisited, so if you totally understood the story the first time, feel free to browse through the archives (maybe cast your vote for this week's Vivisector of the Week), but if you had some questions about the whole thing, here's a quick guide to PETA's reasoning behind providing Michael Vick with information about why animals deserve respect, and some key facts about how it all went down:
I hope that clears a few things up. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions at all.
As you may have heard by now, Michael Vick and his three co-defendants were indicted today by a grand jury, and charged with one count of beating or killing a dog in addition to one count of engaging in and promoting dogfighting. The next step is for the prosecuting attorney, Gerald Poindexter, to actually charge these guys. This is PETA’s official statement on the new indictment:
"PETA believes, as most Americans do, that the best way to safeguard animals is for anyone who participates in dogfighting to spend time behind bars and be banned from owning animals for life. Given that dogs who did not perform to the defendants' satisfaction were intentionally killed by electrocution, drowning, hanging, shooting, and being repeatedly slammed to the ground, state felony cruelty-to-animals charges and state felony dogfighting charges are clearly warranted in this case. The federal authorities prosecuted the crimes under their jurisdiction with due diligence, and we look forward to seeing Commonwealth Attorney Gerald Poindexter do the same.”
Please click here to take action on this issue by urging the NFL to add cruelty to animals to its conduct policy.
Well, that was quick! Here’s what she said on The View this morning:
"Let me really just reiterate this for everybody: I was not condoning nor was I saying I thought Michael Vick did anything right—I did not say that I thought he was good in what he did. … I watched the show on another network that is a sports show, and what I saw made me take a minute to think about what happened with this kid, because they were talking about the culture of dogfighting, and so I thought to myself—well, if you're raised in it, that may be a reason why you're acting the way you have been acting. So I went on to pose this as a discussion, and somehow—I don't know how this happened, if you read the papers today—I'm eating dogs, I'm swinging them by their tail. … I love my animals. I have cats. I've adopted cats from various shelters, but I also believe that if there's a problem out there that we can address by checking out where it stems from, that we need to take a look at this in this high-profile area so we can mark it for the future. That was my point, and I'm very, very sorry—PETA and I are very close and we’ve talked about it a lot.
Thanks for clearing that up, Whoopi, and keep up the great work. Your fans appreciate it.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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