Michael Vick Has A New Dog

This story broke on October 12th and I have been pondering it ever since. When Michael Vick was released from prison after serving his full term for dog fighting, I was outraged that the Humane Society was using him as an advocate for animal rights. How the hell could he know anything about animal rights when he so blatantly didn’t even see animals as anything more than gladiatorial amusement? After some thought, though, I came to the conclusion that being involved with the Humane Society might do him some good. Aside from having to do some court appointed community service type stuff, this might help him become a better person.

Ok, alright, I’m good with that.

Now, he has a dog. Again, my immediate gut reaction was anger. Here’s a man who abused dogs being allowed to have another dog. Who the hell thought this was a good idea? Then I thought about it. And thought about it. And thought about it some more. I still don’t know what I think.

Part of me is still angry, but another part of me hopes that this will help not only Michael Vick, but his family, as well. He has children to raise and hopefully he can teach them to respect and care for animals, not abuse them. I also hope that this will reach the fans of his who think dog fighting is ok. I hope that they will learn to treat animals with respect. People make mistakes and, in the best of cases, they learn from those mistakes. Dog fighting is a terrible epidemic all over this country and if this can shed light on it and make it less appealing to people, then maybe he and his family should have a dog.

What do you think?