Should the NFL and/or Falcons suspend Michael Vick?

[Mike Deneen]

I'm guessing that most of you are aware of the Michael Vick case.

It has created a quandary for the NFL. Legally, he is innocent until proven guilty. However, the league has created the "Pacman Jones" precedent where players can be suspended without conviction.

What should they do with Vick?

[Jeff Endress]

Darn good question......

I'd vote for rolling him is ground meat, shackling him, and letting about half dozen real hungry pit bulls go out to play.....

Jeff

[dl meckes]

I have a really difficult time wanting to watch perpetrators of violent crime play football, even though it is a violent sport.

Nothing much is going to happen to Vick or any of the participants and it's a darned shame.

I don't even know what crimes can be charged, but too many states are too lax on animal fighting/animal cruelty laws.

[Mike Deneen]

Actually, I think someone in this case is going to do time (although Vick may plea bargain to stay out of prison).

Maybe Chef Geoff can offer some insight, but from what I've heard the Feds have a very high conviction rate, so I don't think this is a wild prosecution (Duke Lacrosse), nor can Vick pull an OJ (lawyer up and hope for a racist and/or gullible jury).

Interestingly, the fact that gambling occurred at the fights may create more more problems for him than the cruelty of the fights. Sports leagues fear gambling far more than any other crime. If he made any money and didn't report it, the IRS may get involved. That's what got Pete Rose.

The Falcons are in the most difficult position. Like all the Atlanta teams, they are not widely popular at the ticket window. Vick and their new owner, the head of Home Depot, were beginning to build up a fan base. They have invested in Vick as the face of their team, so suspending him would be costly. However, having an accused criminal as the face of your team can't be good, either.

[dl meckes]

Darn good question......

I'd vote for rolling him is ground meat, shackling him, and letting about half dozen real hungry pit bulls go out to play.....

Jeff

You can't guarantee the pits will "do" anything to a human, particularly to a human that isn't doing anything to them.

[ryan costa]

The local news reported last night on the local dog fighting scene. It is reported that enthusiasts frequently torture losing dogs to death. Was torturing losing dogs to death common when dog fighting was considered a somewhat legitimate sport?

Dogfighting is generally much more expensive to set up than cock fighting. There is more money involved in the gambling aspect of it too. Therefore it attracts more affluent people. It is hard to imagine affluent people torturing dogs to death. Yet that kind of sadism would have to inform the decisions they make in every aspect of their professional lives and as citizens.

[Lynn Farris]

Of course this is horrible but I am curious why society gets more upset about this than they do about other crimes against animals. It is because it is about dogs, albeit pit bulls and not lovable labs?

What about Bull fighting? Granted we don't do it here in the US, but I was just reading about the running of the bulls this weekend. Is it because we eat cows so it is okay? Is it because it is man against animal (Even if man sets up the unfair battle?) Is it because it is a classic "sport" that Hemmingway wrote about?

What about fois gras? Tortuing geese for our pleasure? Or calves for veal? Is it because we don't keep these animals as pets? Factory farming has horrors for animals until they are killed. Why do we not care about these animals? Is it because we enjoy the food and don't really want to know how it ended up in the grocery store so we have culpable deniability?

What about fur? and steel traps? Certainly some of these animals are cute.

Do dogs have a special place in our lives as man's best friend? Are they therefore lifted above the other animals?

Cats I think may come in a close second - but we aren't quite as horrified if something happens to them. As we hear about people torturing cats more often with less horror.

I'm not being difficult or beligerant. I am really curious. This is the logic I dealt with in becoming a vegetarian - I couldn't figure out where to draw the line. Or why the line was drawn at different places by different people. It is clear that the majority of people find dog fighting horrible but less so the other treatments of animals? Why?

[dl meckes]

I don't have a goose sleeping on my bed at night, but there may be a dog or two. We don't even use goose down.

Dogs and cats are our familiars and they are elevated to the point that we never want to consider them being a food source, unlike other animals.

Lynne- I think plenty of people are horrified by the production of fois gras or bull fighting.

But bulls aren't bred and trained to fight each other for public sport and neither are geese.