What we say about Michael Vick -- and what it says about us

You know what disturbs me even more than those who think Michael Vick should get a pass despite what he did to his dogs?

The people who write long, mouth-frothing rants about how he should be thrown in the pit with vicious dogs, tied up, bitten, electrocuted, tortured, etc.

I don't feel Vick did enough time for his crimes. I don't think the NFL should have let him back so soon, I don't think the Eagles should have signed him, and I sure as hell think his teammates are fucking morons for letting him be their recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award. I don't think his fans should forgive or cheer him, and I think he himself has not demonstrated that he understands or has remorse for what he did.

But this "eye for an eye," violent, cruel language not only demeans the humanity of those of us who are trying to create a more compassionate and just world for humans and animals, it often serves to further stigmatize pit bulls and other dogs by implying that they would turn on Vick if given the chance.

The whole terrible tragedy of the pit bull is that, had Vick unclipped the cables and pulled one of his dying dogs out of the pool of death, she'd have probably licked his hand.

I'm not expecting us to be as forgiving as a pit bull, of course. I know I'm not. But if you ever comment on anything I've written about Vick that he needs to be harmed physically for what he did to his dogs, don't expect me to agree with you.

And consider, too, that in a country where Black people were enslaved, tied up, tortured, branded and yes, set upon by dogs, invoking those images against a Black man, however horrific his crimes, is even more offensive.

It makes me as sick as what Vick did, to read those things. And it does absolutely no good to our cause of seeking to have society understand and deplore cruelty and abuse to animals, to be so completely tone-deaf on this issue.

Frankly, it's disgusting.

Comments

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Brava, Christie. Superb post.

[J. Muir]

My god, thank you. I've been wanting to write something like this but hadn't known how to say it. I'm glad you did.

[Barbara Saunders]

Amen on your post. It bums me out that I am sometimes taken as just another person pulling the race card with my comments about Vick. I think race is certainly one of the elements in the whole discussion!

Gladwell, among others, have also pointed out that for every football millionaire, there are hundreds more athletes who, much like fought animals, are subjected to permanent injury or death for the entertainment of some of them and the profit of others. Yes, they consent - to the limited extent that an eighteen-year-old understands how unlikely he is to get rich and what life with a brain injury will be like at age 40.

[Renea Dahms]

Very nice post. I wish more had been done to Vick, and most especially to hit him where it hurt -- obviously his pocket book. I am totally blown away that he would be so welcomed back to the football profession and become "such a hero" for acts of horrendous cruelty, especially when one watches how Tiger Wood, guilty of "some extramarital games" is literally blackballed and treated like seed of the poison fruit.

[Luisa]

Gotta love comments like, "This man proved he is no more than a wild jungle animal" -- when the commenter is talking about a black guy, for crissakes. The cumulative effect is like a big neon sign saying, "The animal welfare community is so white you wouldn't believe it!" Yeah, I would, actually.

I'm so tired of the Vick hate I could scream, but since he's apparently the only person in history that ever abused a dog, let alone a pit bull, I should probably just suck it up.

[Susan R.]

Funny, my impression has been that the animal abuser community is just about as white as the animal welfare community. I hadn't heard that "wild jungle animal" comment - I agree, it's completely offensive - but I was also completely offended that Vick and his apologists tried to pawn his behavior off as a product of his "culture" and therefore less culpable. The documents recently released indicate he got an adrenaline thrill from personally killing dogs. That has to do with the color of his soul, not the color of his skin.

I hear the same kind of violent eye-for-an -eye language whenever a new and shocking story comes out about an egregious case of cruelty, regardless of color or gender. Perhaps the flood of mail you receive gives you a different POV, but in the circles I frequent, most people would not walk the walk. It's talk, because they are frustrated with the fact that animal abusers rarely get more than token punishment. My Facebook status asks whether the Eagles should deal with Vick the way he dealt with his losing dogs. It's not a serious question. It doesn't call for actual violence.

So maybe you have reason, from what you have read and heard, to think that the vehemence against Vick has something to do with his race. I'm sure for some people it does, but I don't think that's true for most people. I think most people who hate him do so for his actions and his lack of remorse. I don't think he deserves any more contempt or opprobrium based on his race - or any less.

[Luisa]

I think a lot of the Vick hate is motivated by race and class, and I probably have a somewhat different point of view, since I'm latina. [If you want to see commenters go apeshit, put a Spanish surname in a pet-abuse post.]

Why isn't Kory Nelson as vilified? Most dog people know who he is. For those who don't: Nelson is the Denver lawyer who caused hundreds of good, friendly, temperamentally sound dogs, family pets, to be killed for no reason that makes sense in a rational universe; the one who made it possible for these good dogs to be taken from their law-abiding owners at gunpoint, in some cases; the one who forced law-abiding citizens with dogs that had never harmed or threatened to harm anyone to choose between moving out of the city with their pets, giving them away or handing their dogs over to be killed.

It has been Nelson's great pleasure to do these things, as far as anyone can tell, and he has done all of it without breaking a sweat or violating the letter of the law. He makes dogfighters look like rank amateurs when it comes to cruelty and killing.

Amazing, the stuff faceless bureaucrats get away with. [Maybe not so faceless -- I think he has a Facebook page.] Seriously, Michael Vick isn't in Nelson's league when it comes to killing dogs.

Tom Skeldon is another person responsible for countless dog deaths, and yet for all the opposition to the man and his policies, I've never seen the... savagery, I guess, directed at him that is so commonplace where Vick is concerned. Like Nelson, Skeldon broke no animal-cruelty laws; he merely "euthanized" thousands of good dogs with a terribly civilized I.V. solution, instead of killing a dozen brutally. Go figure.

Excellent post, Christie.

[Susan R.]

@Luisa: I do consider both men vile, but there are three glaring differences, one which you pointed out already. (1) They broke no laws (probably least relevant); (2) Far, far less publicity, because of Vick's high-profile status; (3) the sick, twisted methods of sadistic torture employed by Vick in his murders. Both Skeldon and Nelson make me sick, and I think they have a variant of the soul-sickness that Vick has.

Also, certainly Nelson, and probably Skeldon as well, have some sincere belief in what they are/were doing, which is something dog people recognize, however vehemently they disagree. Vick was getting his jollies. There's no justification for his acts, when even his own people urged him not to kill the dogs, and he insisted, they "got to go."

I will confess to a certain contempt for millionaire athletes...and professional sports in general. The athletes seem to consider themselves exempt from the law and other rules of social conduct.

[Valerie]

I used to share an office with a couple of my fellow grad students who thought that Vick was being harshly punished because of his race. In this particular (admittedly very small sample size--not statistically significant)group, thoughts on Vick fell out on racial lines, and it made me really sad to learn that. If someone identical to Vick in every respect other than race were to be caught doing the same thing, how would it have played out? What would people be saying about it?
My take: Cruelty is cruelty. No excuses. Forgiveness and psychopaths do not mix.
That said, I think that the animal welfare community needs to actively make itself more inclusive. That is the right thing to do and it extends the safety net for animals.

[JessicaB]

Thank you so much for eloquently stating what I have felt for sometime.
We cannot denounce violence against one being and advocate it towards another (regardless of species) without undermining our own integrity, and cause.
Again. Thank you.

[EmilyS]

Nelson, Skeldon... or John Goodwin, Luisa.. responsible for the deaths of more pit bulls than all the dogfighters put together. But his hands are "clean".

excellent post, Christie, I agree.

[Lori]

I feel sick. I agree with what you wrote Christie. I just feel sick from dog rescue. Exhaustion has set in and a break is what I need most right now. I love dogs and I love my country and I love humans. I believe that No Kill is here and we are going to win. I want it like yesterday. I do not understand when people do not love their pets like we love ours. I do not get it.

Jessica said it pretty well here too, "We cannot denounce violence against one being and advocate it towards another (regardless of species) without undermining our own integrity, and cause."

[Julie Wilson]

Here's something redeeming about the whole situation. One of the pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick's dog fighting operation is now a Therapy Dog!
You can check out the YouTube video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_zpP-CXzsI

[Julie Wilson]

I just wanted to mention a blog about Why Michael Vick does not deserve the courage award.
It's at www.InspiringRescueStories.com
Thanks