First of all, you threw in the word "morally" which is kinda key to this whole situation. You can't legislate morals because we all have different sets of them.
My dear friend,
That statement is refuted handily in every morals & ethics 101 class. The concept of "moral relativity" or, in the vernacular, "I'm Okay, You're Okay" is patently false. Regardless of culture, time period, geographic location, whatever, there are certain moral absolutes which may always be found. Among these are prohibitions on murder, rape, lying, etc. Yes, there may be subjective shading of one point or another, but throughout history, these sorts of "moral standards" may be found, and easily.
Animal cruelty laws are indeed discriminatory based upon species. You will find that, the closer that species is to humankind, the more the law(s) will protect it. Dogs, cats, horses, cows, etc, all come in for far more protection than reptiles and inscets, or even fish. Mammals are always more protected than anything else because WE are mammals.
Vivk is a jerk. He's also a football fraud. He can show flashes of "WOW" but as often, he botches the situation, and the great disappointment of this is how the Falcons Ownership has covered for him, has shielded him from having to take any responsibility for his actions.
When Vick scr@ws up, it's always someone else's fault. The play wasn't executed correctly. The guard pulled too quickly. The turf was poor. The ball was slippery. You NEVER EVER see Vick say :Hey. It's on me. I messed up".
Well, this time he messed up and he's going to be out of football pretty quickly and wearing a whole new wardrobe. I hope he likes stripes.
The Atlanta fans deserve better than Vick. They also deserve a better club owner, one who won't letter blind loyalty to a player cloud their professional judgement.
Respects,