OT: My letter to Goodell re: Vick Dog Fighting

[JoeSixPat]

Would there be the same outcry if it was cats?

Just asking.

No there would not. People like dogs more than cats. It's just the way it is.

That's why I'm moving forward with my new entrepreneurial venture...

Mouse Flavored Cat Food... and Cat Flavored Dog Food

Venture Capital firms are VERY interested

 

[Kdo5]

Cats would still cause a controversy. They are animals...they're pets. Thats pretty much abuse and its sick.

 

[sdaniels7114]

You'd think if Vick had some strange fixation on blood lust he'd just finance one of these ultimate-type fighting leagues that are popping up all over the place. At least there, the fighters make a choice. Sure dogs fight naturally, but 99.9% of the time the fight lasts about 5 seconds and loser runs away. I do think they need more evidence beyond Vick owning the place; he may very well have bought this guy a house just to get rid of him.

 

[Tunescribe]

You'd think if Vick had some strange fixation on blood lust he'd just finance one of these ultimate-type fighting leagues that are popping up all over the place. At least there, the fighters make a choice. Sure dogs fight naturally, but 99.9% of the time the fight lasts about 5 seconds and loser runs away. I do think they need more evidence beyond Vick owning the place; he may very well have bought this guy a house just to get rid of him.

Bought the guy a house just to get rid of him? Come on. Even in that outlandish circumstance, there remains a degree of guilt by association. Vick is a scumbag who cavorts with scumbags.

 

[bokonon]

From the media reports I have read, there is a lot more evidence against Vick personally than just his ownership of the house. I applaud the letter writer, and if Vick isn't suspended or in jail this season, I for one will be hoping he gets seriously injured- and I don't say this lightly. I have never rooted for a player to get hurt, but if reports are correct what was going on at Vick's property and with his knowledge is sadism, and borders on sociopathy.

 

[PatsMyBoyz!]

PFT ran some articles on this and apparently they discovered a website with a pic of Shannon Sharpe,possibly indicting his involvement in something similar. Because of that,PETA is now trying to claim some sort of underground animal abuse/dog fighting ring within the NFL itself.
Whether anyone buys this or not is another story,but given Goodell's Zero Tolerance policy,he's probably forced to investigate this whole situation at least to some degree. FWIW,the drug business has long been linked to training attack dogs,most especially pit bulls.

SHARPARO LIKES DOGS, TOO

One of the realities of the Mike Vick dog-fighting investigation is that authorities will now be more skeptical of any pro athlete who shows an affinity for aggressive breeds of dog. * Scroll down PFT for the complete article.
http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

That made me laugh out loud
But yes, of course it would be the same for cats, or pigs or geese or bunnies...I mean pitting animals against one another and making them fight to the death is revolting to me and any other animal lover, the thought that people find this entertaining is so disturbing and frightening to me I really can't comprehend it.

I certainly agree. Of course we are being chauvinist in that animal destructive sports like kok (phonetic spelling to bypass spell censor SW) fighting celebrates cultural diversity.

 

[rabthepat]

Roger Goodell
Commissioner
National Football League
280 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017


Dear Commissioner Goodell,

I have been a fan of the NFL ever since I was a young boy. I’ve always been passionate about the game, even naming my first-born son Brady as a tribute to the Patriots’ quarterback. I bonded with my own father by watching football and learning about the game, its history, and the great coaches and players that set a standard of dedication, persistence and commitment that inspired me as a boy.

As a fan of the league since childhood, and as an ‘NFL Dad’ who looks to NFL players and coaches as symbols of the potential greatness inherent in all men, I’m deeply troubled the reports of a large-scale dog fighting ring being run by Michael Vick. The idea of grown men breeding animals for the purpose of sadistic treatment like this is truly disturbing.

The NFL has a responsibility to fans and their families to ensure that NFL players, no matter how high their salaries or how large their celebrity, are held to high standards of ethical and moral behavior. Sadism and cruelty to animals like this can not be swept under the rug.

The NFL is not just a sport league. Football is part of the fabric of American life, and is interwoven into the families of millions of fans. Many NFL families have dogs or cats as pets, and treat them with all the love and care as their other family members.

My life-long relationship to the NFL means a lot to me, and it’s my sincere hope that the league will banish any player who participates in acts of animal cruelty. By standing up for animal rights, the league is standing up for its fans and the legacy of greatness and high character that fathers like me hope to share with our children and our grandchildren.

Great letter...I plan on writing the NFL also. This is unacceptable. Good job!

 

[rabthepat]

like i said last time. [profane, unprovoked personal insults removed. come on, remix!] plus there's no evidence yet to prove that Vick ran anything

they don't listen to a fan saying i don't like what he did. if they did..half NFL players would be gone

No evidence??? LOL...let's see...
1) He admits he owns the house.
2) He has a web site selling these types of dogs.
3) He has been to the house.
4) There are kennels at the house.
5) Neighbors have complained about the situation.
6) I own a home and I am responsible for what goes on there!!! So is Mike!!!
7) The Cops raided the place and found the dogs in sad shape.
6) Mike has done a great job explaining the situation.

I guess O.J. didn't do it either. "The glove did not fit..."

 

[spacecrime]

No evidence??? LOL...let's see...
1) He admits he owns the house.
2) He has a web site selling these types of dogs.
3) He has been to the house.
4) There are kennels at the house.
5) Neighbors have complained about the situation.
6) I own a home and I am responsible for what goes on there!!! So is Mike!!!
7) The Cops raided the place and found the dogs in sad shape.
6) Mike has done a great job explaining the situation.

I guess O.J. didn't do it either. "The glove did not fit..."

This is evidence that dogs were in the house owned by Vick. It is not evidence that Vick knew or approved.

6) I own a home and I am responsible for what goes on there!!! So is Mike!!!

So if while you are at work, and your cousin comes to your house and supplies your teenage son with grass, you will plead guilty to providing drugs to a minor because the drugs were in your house? Vick is responsible for the dog fighting and you are responsible for the drug distributing?

If the company you work for has a no drug policy, and your teen-age son brings some grass home, you would say that you deserve to be fired? Not just fired, but banned for life from that line of work?

I'm not a Vick fan, but I'm less a fan of a vigilante mob mindset.

You are all rightly angry about dogs being used for fighting, but a rush to judgment, and pretending you don't need proof (you LOL was pretty damn scary) is not justice, nor does it make sense.

Someone is guilty of having a dog fighting ring. If you pre-judge it to be Vick, and it is someone else, you are guilty of assisting that person to get away with his crime, and enabling him to torture more dogs.

Find the guilty person. Punish him. If it turns out to be Vick, then it does. But don't go on a witch hunt.

Stuff like this is even scarier:

Remix do everyone a favor and stop with your contrarian view.
Because you either
1. love vick
2. fight dogs yourself or see nothing wrong with this atrocious act

look at the facts of the case the way a jury would:
the house was built by vick and contained kennels to house 60+ dogs
Feds have eyewitness accounts of Vick personally buying syringes and other dog supplies
at the end of the day, somebody has to finance this operation.
It's going to end up being Vick

 

[patsacolachick]

Someone is guilty of having a dog fighting ring. If you pre-judge it to be Vick, and it is someone else, you are guilty of assisting that person to get away with his crime, and enabling him to torture more dogs.

Find the guilty person. Punish him. If it turns out to be Vick, then it does. But don't go on a witch hunt.

Oh for heaven's sake how about they find ALL of the people involved in this disgusting enterprise???? No one is saying to punish only Vick, we are saying punish ALL involved, including said scumbag!!!

 

[dhamz]

So if while you are at work, and your cousin comes to your house and supplies your teenage son with grass, you will plead guilty to providing drugs to a minor because the drugs were in your house? Vick is responsible for the dog fighting and you are responsible for the drug distributing?

That is a ridiculous analogy. It wasn't like the dogs just showed up some afternoon.

If I own a home and one of my family members is dealing drugs there complete with meth lab, fields to grow drugs, and armed guards - then yes I would be responsible for drug distribution.

 

[patchick]

That is a ridiculous analogy. It wasn't like the dogs just showed up some afternoon.

If I own a home and one of my family members is dealing drugs there complete with meth lab, fields to grow drugs, and armed guards - then yes I would be responsible for drug distribution.

Exactly--it's the scale of the operation and the infrastructure behind it that raises the stakes on the owner's culpability. There were significant structures on the property built to house large numbers of dogs. Were they built without the knowledge or funding of the property owner...who himself raises that same breed of dogs?

But in fairness to Vick, there's a difference between raising and housing pit bulls and staging fights. It's always possible that he thought he was funding a dog-breeding operation, while the folks on-site were running it as a fighting operation. Always possible, right?

 

[sdaniels7114]

If it turns out Vick was involved, I hope they drop the hammer, and hard.

I know his name's only been mentioned in passing; but it will be a truly wonderful thing if it turns out that Shannon Sharpe is up to his eyeballs in this. I still remember his 'phone call' to the President as though it was yesterday.

 

[BJ_McWild]

thanks for everybody's support on this. I think it's important that the league doesn't allow it's image to be tarnished by allowing this kind of activity to take place.