Dog fights - extracting a pound of flesh from man's best friend.

[cyrax]

"You've got to have a pretty violent streak in you to sit and watch man's best friend rip another one to shreds so someone can make money," he says.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/falcons/2007-07-18-vick-cover_N.htm

[Karen]

That story is pretty sick! I hope he does get a prison sentence, but he's a quarterback, do they get convicted???

More articles on the topic:

Michael Vick Dogfighting (http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/michaelvickdogfighting.html), Dogs Deserve Better informational article.

Falcons' Vick Indicted in Dogfighting Case (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071701393.html), Washington Post.

Vick "one of the heavyweights"in dogfighting (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2884063), ESPN.


Is Dogfighting in Korea?

Yes. Last June (2006) I got the following group-email from the DDB yahoo group in the USA. I sent a letter to KAPS but didn't get a response. I didn't know what else I could do... I only remembered about it when I started reading the current issue.

Here is last June's letter from a DDB member:

...I got several copies of this email today, and a bunch of questions about the message (below). When this guy can't get enough Poodles shipped to him (and let's hope he can't), he will most likely start casting about for other bait breeds and mixes.

The email address [removed] is connected with this website: http://www.fightingtosa.com/
WARNING - website is ugly.

Akiko Tosa & American Pit Bull Terriers Kennel
*Presidents of Kennels: Min-Woo,Lee & Yong-Ho,Kim*
Tel&fax:[removed, but I still have it. It began with 82-2-...]

Copy of email:
===========================================
Hello, friend,

Long time no see,

I`m emailing you to ask if you are interested in doing business better

I`m interested in Standard Poodle-Red and Choco color young adult females aged from over 6 months to under 2 years old. firstly Red color young adult females prefered.

Ch,title and Pedigree Papaer is not necessary but hope good price.
and I`m interested in many of quantities of them

anyway if you are interested in doing business with me.

please feel free to contact me now

Regards,
Joo
A scary reminder to screen adopters and to NEVER GIVE AWAY ANIMALS FOR FREE!!

[Karen]

Two opinions about dogfighting from The Harford Courant: http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/letters/hc-lets0724.artjul24,0,5797380.story

"Eating Animals Is Cruel, Too"

Everyone seems to be outraged, and rightly so, about the recent dog fighting scandal [Commentary, July 22, "Suspend Michael Vick Now"].

The shame is that so many people will be consuming bacon and eggs, hamburgers and hot dogs or steaks and ribs as they condemn those involved. But animals are raised for us to eat, you say. By that logic, dog fighting would be fine as long as the animals were raised for that purpose. There is as much cruelty on your plate as there is at a dog fight. ~Josh Zalaski, South Windsor
"Dogs Have No Rights"

Michael Vick should not be charged with anything. Animals have no rights.

I have never seen any reference in any of our Founding Fathers' documents that indicated that all men and animals are created equal.

To put animals on a par with humans from a legal perspective degrades the worth of humanity.

As it is, legal resources are stretched thin dealing with real crimes. To waste law enforcement and court time on prosecuting an animal rights violation is absurd.

I have had animals for years and have spent a substantial amount of money on their health and well-being. I have done this by choice because I own them and have taken the responsibility to care for them.

Because I am the owner, I also believe I have the option to do anything I want with them - even kill them, like animal shelters do every day. ~ John F. Connors Sr, Colchester

[Karen]

Amazon.com supports animal fighting!

For at least two years, Amazon.com has been infamously—and incorrectly—touting its "right" to sell materials promoting illegal animal fighting, blatantly peddling dogfighting videos as well as cockfighting magazines like The Gamecock and The Feathered Warrior. Even the recent storm of publicity about the evils of dogfighting has not deterred the company from profiting from illegal animal fighting.

Amazon.com's persistence is all the more disturbing because it comes after Congress passed legislation making it a felony offense to ship publications containing "commercial speech" for the purpose of promoting or "in any other manner furthering" animal fighting.
https://community.hsus.org/campaign/US_2007_amazon_fighting3?rk=ApwuqAp1R8-dW

[Karen]

Hey Cyrax, Have you seen the "Neuter Vick" tee-shirts?

http://www.cafepress.com/buy/Vick/-/fpt_eX_____B___C__a__b0H_PE__aah__lS?CMP=KNC-Y-BR-tkvick&OVRAW=whoppi%20goldberg%20michael%20vick&OVKEY=michael%20vick&OVMTC=advanced&OVADID=16655246011&OVKWID=128837467511

[cyrax]

:O Karen!! Bad breed lines should be terminated :D, that includes Vick.

[alibuch]

Michael Vick is a sorry excuse for a human being. At least he finally plead guilty to the horrible things he did.

[cyrax]

From what I read about this case, he was already pronounced guilty by the media. I do not like the way this happens. Sure, the media highlighted the commercial exploitation of dog fights as a problem, but I would like the media to just report and not inject _their_ emotions. I would rather have a court pronounce Vick guilty (which he is).
On the other hand I know of many fans who have started to hate him. This is the kind of backlash he deserves from the people.
Fan backlash:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVVc-KHoa68
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3osxHb4jTjs

[alibuch]

Well.. I was back in the States when all this was coming out and I don't think the media injected anything into it... The presented what Vick was being questioned about. Two of his friends came forward and admitted to it and then said Vick did it, too. He had no choice but to own up to what he had done... there was too much evidence against him.

[Karen]

The media sensationalizes everything, it's true, and "Sports Star Kills Puppies" type of headlines will get hits (actually, I don't remember what exactly the headlines were), but sensationalized headlines alone don't guarantee the public with react emotionally. I don't think the media pronounced Vick guilty, they just highlighted the story quite a bit and the public reacted strongly to it. I guess because Americans are emotional sports fans, most people have a dog in the family, and violence against animals is almost never in the media (more the reverse, "Another Pit Bull Attacks Kid" is more common.)

If the media hadn't focused on the story so much, this may not have happened:

In the one month since the indictment of Vick and three associates, the HSUS has witnessed a significant uptick in police activity, with at least 32 dogfighting rings broken up in 15 states with 240 dogs seized...

While this single case captured headlines and absorbed the world of professional athletics, The HSUS continues to point out that dogfighting is a far broader criminal enterprise in the U.S with an estimated 40,000 professional dogfighters and perhaps 100,000 less organized street dogfighters. This is despite the fact that animal fighting is illegal in all 50 states and under federal law...

http://www.hsus.org/acf/news/vick_pleads_guilty.html
So I think the media actually did quite a good job for once bringing mucho attention to a problem that was not talked about before.

[alibuch]

I definitely agree. Dog fighting is a growing problem in the States.. I know it definitely is in Cincinnati where I'm from amongst pit bull owners... I had kids at the school I taught at who were 10 years old who were already into dog fighting... It's really sad.

[Karen]

I had kids at the school I taught at who were 10 years old who were already into dog fighting... It's really sad.
Oh my god, people bring their kids to cheer at dogs ripping each other open? I'm shocked. I only ever thought of "dogfighting circles" as shady groups of adults betting on something out in some secret corner of the woods. But, kids attending?!?

It's time for Humane Education courses to become mandatory in North American schools. Ideally parents would be forced to attend, too.

[alibuch]

Yeah definitely. I had many discussions with my students about it and they seriously saw nothing wrong with it. Every reason I gave them for how horrible and inhumane it was they just shrugged it off.

[Karen]

How has our society failed to progress past the Middle Ages? I don't understand.

[Karen]

Michael Vick takes a Humane Education course at PETA:

Following news of his guilty plea, I contacted Michael Vick suggesting that he hear—for the first time in his life, he confirmed—about animal protection issues, learn how animals feel joy and pain and deserve respect, and receive specific instruction on what to say to young people whom he has influenced in the worst possible ways.

In mid-September, Michael Vick visited PETA's headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, to meet with me privately. I told him that PETA advocates an end to all exploitation and needless violence based on prejudice, including the prejudice against other species, and that we believe that he should equip himself with information and materials in order to be able to live up to his responsibility to counsel children not to engage in cruelty to animals. He expressed his willingness to learn and his belief that everything in life happens for a reason, and he offered an apology to PETA and to "everyone" for "what I have done to dogs." I also explained that even if he took our basic empathy course, our position that he should serve jail time and have a lifetime ban on contact with animals would nevertheless remain unchanged, and he accepted that.

Two weeks ago, Michael Vick returned to PETA to take the "Developing Empathy for Animals" course, an all-day seminar on "who animals are," alternatives to cruelty, animal protection philosophy, and humane education, which PETA has now excerpted online. We believe that this course should be adopted by the NFL for all players to take in order to give them a chance to learn empathy, compassion, and nonviolence. Two days after the seminar, Vick came back to PETA's office to take the course exam.

PETA's course teaches the Golden Rule—treat others as you wish to be treated. Only time will tell whether Michael Vick has benefited from what he has learned, but he has pledged to use this knowledge to urge kids not to follow in his footsteps and to be kind to animals. Meanwhile, we are urging the NFL to take the important step of requiring that every player do what Michael Vick has done and take the course in order to help prevent future acts of violence against animals and to equip players with information about respecting animals that they can share with their young fans.

Although the Vick story served as the first glimpse for many people into the gory details of dogfighting, the abuses detailed in Vick's indictment are as widespread as they are horrific. In the last year alone, PETA has responded to more than 14,000 calls and e-mail messages regarding other dogfighting and individual cruelty-to-animals cases. The crucial step now is to urge policymakers and law enforcement officers to treat all cases of dogfighting and cruelty to animals the same way that they handled Vick's high-profile case. To that end, please join PETA and ask the NFL to require that all its players, some of whom have been involved in a series of cruelty-to-animals cases, attend PETA's "Developing Empathy for Animals" course.

Thank you for helping us do all that we can to make the world a better place for animals.

Yours truly,
Ingrid Newkirk
Ingrid E. Newkirk
President

P.S. If you'd like to help support PETA's educational programs, please make a donation today.
SEE: http://www.peta.org/feat_ap101.asp

[alibuch]

Publicity stunt. He's such a jack.