www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Michael Vick sentenced

Michael Vick, a star athlete, was sentenced yesterday to 23 months in federal prison, 3 years probation, a fine of $5000; and he �agreed� to pay over $900,000 to care for dogs -- all because of dog-fighting. He has also lost his career (at least for now, perhaps forever), his livelihood, and his home is up for sale -- again, all for dog-fighting.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/10/vick.sentenced/index.html
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3119025
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3148549

This boggles my mind. I cannot see this as a just punishment. Yes, torturing animals is bad; yes, people should be punished for that. But ruining of a man? For dog-fighting? I don�t think that is just.

Instead, I think it shows how screwed up this country�s priorities are.

While all this was going on and with all of the public outrage, the city of New Orleans and much of the surrounding area remained in ruins two years after Hurricane Katrina. Thousands of houses and other buildings remain destroyed. Thousands of former residents are still homeless. The economy is still limping there.

Yet, the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is hardly talked about anymore. The government is hardly doing anything about it. There is almost no public outrage or outcry, and there is hardly any coverage on the television news. And the people who could have (and should have) done a better job to save a city and rebuild a region: they are not in jail, nor fined, nor without a livelihood.

What is the worse crime: dog fighting, or allowing a city and a region to remain destroyed? Who is the worse criminal: a fool who gets a sadistic thrill from watching animals fight, or a country and its public officials who care more for a dog than for thousands of their fellow citizens and an entire region of the country ?

And so I have to conclude: This country cares more about dogs than about its fellow human beings and rebuilding a region that was destroyed.

in disgust,

-- John

In a fiction workshop a fellow student read his story. His story had a strong beginning, it was to be a hunting expedition and he introduced character after character. Sometime into the story, after repeating himself several times, the hunt for a Caspian tiger was brought to an end by an unintroduced character who assassinated the hunters before they could take their shot at the tiger. In the discussion afterward, I stated that I was rather offended by the abruptness of the end action (there was nothing in the story to prepare the reader for the shift). But then I caused an uproar when I suggested that it was wrong to suggest that the assassin was justified because human life is not equivalent to animal life.

The moment I came to my point, three girls in front row gasped at my audacity, turned to me, and began to severely chide me. The professor then stepped in and distanced himself from my reading of the story and took the class forward in the workshop of the story he particularly liked.

I believe that a number of people take more sympathy to the plight of those dogs than with children who are aborted before they take their first breath.

I think he got too light a sentence. I have no sympathy for him whatsoever.

Ryan

This really says it all.

It makes no sense to me whatsoever.

The cartoon is wonderful - and hilarious! Thanks to the Administrator for posting it.

Fr. Serge

I don't understand why we think the government should step in and fix things that are broken. That is not their job...it's the job of the Church to see to the poor and the destitute. The government's responsibility is to protect the country from danger. Not provide social services.

Vic was not punished because we love dogs more than people but because his activities were highly illegal.

Jason

John,

It might help if we knew the precise details of the charges against him. On the surface, I agree. Big deal - dog fighting. But when you get into the nitty gritty of the charges and the nature of the abuse (dogfighting sounds like it involves horrible forms of abuse) it might help provide some perspective.

Does anyone have any insight here?

Gordo

I don't think the charges have anything to do with abuse. I believe he was convicted on racketeering charges for running a betting ring.

I don't even want to contemplate the amount of money, time and resources spent to prosecute the case that could have gone to other things.

True...but what is done in the dogfighting industry? I am altogether unfamiliar with it.

Gordo

Much of it is underground and not too industrial. I can understand the argument that the punishment is aggressive to send a message to dogfighting rings.

I see nothing outrageous about it being 23 months. What would a just punishment be? A fine? Six weeks?

Terry

Gordo,

Dogfighting is a vicious, cruel, sadistic form of "entertainment" in which dogs are trained to fight and kill each other. The "fans" get a thrill from the violence and the bloodshed. It's disgusting, and it's illegal.

That said, I don't think it rises to the same level of wrongdoing as do crimes against people. I also don't think it rises to the level of public outcry that this case has generated.

As for Mr. Vick, he was convicted for financing a dogfighting "ring" and for killing dogs which underperformed.

-- John

I don't feel sorry for Michael Vick. At least he seems to be sincerely sorry.

He had everything and he chose to act like a fool. He chose to break the law. No one forced him to do anything. Oh, well. Now he has to pay. Plain and simple.

I don't think 23 months is unreasonable for the animal cruelty aspect of all this. It has nothing to do with the relative value of a human life versus a dog's life. Obvously he wasn't that sympathetic of a defendant if he drew 23 months.

Hopefully, he'll get his head together and act the model prisoner. His NFL career is probably over, but that's all by his own choice and his own doing.

When your buds come by your house and suggest you start a dogfighting ring, you just say no - and you consider whether you ought not stop hanging out with such people!

As some of the Forum participants know from experience, I am very fond of my own dog - Murf, who is sleeping beside me on the floor and looking up every now and then as if to say "Why aren't you in bed where you belong?". Mistreat my dog and I'll drag you into court in a minute.

Nonetheless, I do not believe that I have some mission to go out and rescue all the dogs in creation, nor do I think that the Church has such a mission - the Church has enough to do for the human beings, thanks.

Fr. Serge

A few of us wonder if Mr. Vick wasn't in to other things that the government couldn't pin on him so they got him for the dogfighting like they got Al Capone for Tax Evasion.

Also, where was the outrage a few years ago when there were a slough of reports about NFL players beating their wives?