Michael Vick is barred from owning a dog until 2012. He has kids but to the best of my knowledge they do not live with him full time. If they live with their mother, she can get them a dog.
I don't 'feel sorry' for his kids at all. Many kids grow up to be stable healthy adults without ever having owned a pet.
Michael Vick was not simply convicted of 'dogfighting'. He was convicted under RICO - hence the prison sentence; which was appropriate.
Pima is correct - the SPCA will probably never allow Vick to own a dog. Dirty little secret - the dog you 'adopt' is not really yours. You are not technically allowed to sell it or give it away. You must sign a contract and make lots of 'promises'.
If Michael Vick got a dog tomorrow - that dog would probably be well cared for as long as he kept playing well for the Eagles. If Vick were hurt and unable to play - i.e. sent home or his career came to a screeching halt - I would not place a bet his ability to care for a dog much less remain on the 'straight and narrow'. JMHO.
Too bad we can't regulate and restrict who has children too. If you can have 'em, you can raise 'em (or try to), and there are some seriously raging and abusive parents out there who do untold damage to their kids.
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And who cares if you disagree? You are not me Who made you king of anything? So you dare tell me who to be? Who died and made you king of anything? ~Sara Barielles
I say give the man all the dogs he wants - Even a short and mean life with a pro-football player beats what the majority will ever see. If they could talk, I would imagine they would point out that at least he can afford to feed them.
poetgl, a goose wouldn't be a pet for Vick, it would be a meal.
Vick would be better off with a chihuahua - it doesn't look like a real dog, and no one ever accused one of being man's best friend. And they're too small to attract an audience when they bite each other.
If you want the nastiest, most territorial animal for security, get a goose. My brother was stationed in Germany, and he told me the nuclear sites there had (back then, anyway) geese on premises as a back up to all the normal security you'd expect of such a site. He said the geese couldn't be bribed or fed into being quiet, and once someone set foot on their territory, their honking would wake the dead.
I got a kitten when I was in college. I smuggled her into the dorm in a paperbag, and kept it in the room. Once the RA came in unexpectedly, and I tossed my poor kitten in the closet. Everytime she meowed, I coughed. I'm sure the RA figured it out, but since no one had complained, she kept quiet. I'm forever grateful!
I kept my kitten throughout graduation, grad school, marriage, and two kids. She passed away at the age of 16. I've never empathized with anthropomorphizing animals, though. Part of real love is loving them for their true natures, as animals, not for trying to turn them into furry people. (I think that works with husbands, too.)
-- Edited by hayden on Friday 17th of December 2010 10:24:17 AM
The meanest dog I ever knew when I was a kid was a friend's chihuahua. Its name was Lil' Bit, and it was a ferocious guard dog. It was an inside dog, but occasionally they would put it on a long chain in their front yard. Boy, you didn't want to make the mistake of walking within striking distance of Lil' Bit when he was on duty. Ouch!
I have heard of prisoners being in prison for the rest of their life without the chance of parol, but I have never heard of an inmate released on parole for the rest of their life.
I also don't believe Mike Vick will ever hurt another animal. I don't have a problem with his family having a dog. I am an animal lover (my college cat also wound up with my parents) but I think Vick has reformed- and not just from being in prison. People who have been in dysfunctional relationships can learn to be in healthy ones. (not everyone- but certainly some) Vick can treat an animal properly.
I feel bad for his kids, I really do. It would be terrible to grow up without a pet.
However, I just don't buy that he's changed. Sorry, but if you can inflict that kind of pain, suffering, and death on an animal you don't just change in some time at prison.
And then there's the whole thing of whether he could get a rescue or a bred dog. I HATE when people buy dogs from breeders so I obviously don't support that. However, rescued dogs (usually) need love and support from people who are very patient and compassionate towards hardships they may have faced. I don't think Vick is the person to give them that.
I know that he probably had a pet dog, but anyone who can make a distinction between a "pet" dog and a dog that fights to the death does not deserve any furry animal. It's sickening.
We're not talking about letting a pedophile or a child murderer adopt a child.
No. We're talking about a dog murderer who wants to adopt a dog.
The man is shameless if he can stand up at this point and reminisce about having dogs growing up. I don't think that anyone is completely evil. But what Vick did was evil. He doesn't get another chance to have a pet dog.
For me, this does not relate to rehabilitation. He is out of jail because of the belief that he can be rehabilited and will not sponsor or engage in dog fights.
I don't believe a dog will be in jeopardy with him. My understanding is that he had a dog while he was running the gaming operation. Part of his problem is that he made a distinction between pets and fighting dogs, seeing the fighting dogs as disposable property.
The reason I do not believe he should have a dog is because it is part of his punishment and he is proving that it is true punishment. He has his career back and will be wealthy again no doubt. He may be able to get everything back that he lost but he can't have a dog and if that makes him think about what he did every day of his life, then so be it.
*One* of the reasons people like Michael Vick end up in serious trouble is that along the way the rules don't exist for them and they finally push the limits too far. I don't think a dog wouldn't be in danger in his home now, but I hope no more rules are bent (broken even) for him or exceptions taken due to his athletic ability and fame. Hopefully, this will be a lesson his kids will take to heart. It's not the mean parole system that's keeping a dog out of their home. It's part and parcel of the punishment that Vick has brought upon himself, and by extension, his family, by his past actions.
Yes Samurai, but your DS also had to put his name down on the adoption and it didn't say MICHAEL VICK, now did it.
ASPCA are not the same as breeding rescues or breeders regarding strict policies. I was just saying if Michael Vick even went into an ASPCA I doubt they would hand a pet over.
I do wonder if his GF adopted a dog, would she be allowed to do so if she is living with him. I would think not, because that is a term of his parole and I would suspect that means they have the right to enter the home to see that he has no pets.
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Raising a teenager is like nailing Jello to a tree
There is a stipulation in his parole. He is barred forever from owning any dogs.
That aside.
I don't think any upscale breeder or a rescue organization would allow him to get near one.
Trying to rescue a dog from an organization is insanely hard.
We rescued our white boxer (that is the picture of her), I had to supply 3 references, and they called all of them. I had to submit pictures of my yard and my home and a home inspection before they told me I can rescue her at 300 bucks.
When I traveled to SC to get her, they made me sign papers that they could collect her if I didn't follow their rules.
9 months later, they contacted me and said I was in default of the contract since I had not proven we had been taking her to the vet for health care and sending growth pictures. I was shocked, I thought they were joking with the contract. This occurred at the same time Ellen Degeneres gave her rescue to a friend and they took it back.
Rescue organizations are very serious.
Breeders are not just about the money either, unless they are running a puppy mill.
Our neighbor just got a portugese water hound. The 1st breeder rejected him because he said that he was going to do the invisible fence when asked about the property. He realized with the next breeder to say he would be putting up a traditional fence.
Nobody not even the ASPCA would give him a dog.
FWIW, if he wants to show he cares about dogs, during his off season, go and volunteer one day a week at the ASPCA to help with his rehabilitation. Prove it first, the sob story of my kids doesn't work. Worse yet, he states I grew up in a home my entire life with a pet...OKEY DOKEY, and yet you did dog fighting?
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Raising a teenager is like nailing Jello to a tree
If he doesn't get a dog, somewhere down the chain of causality, a dog will die.
He buys an expensive upscale pooch. This impacts demand for expensive upscale pooches,so the price goes higher or is maintained (or in today's economy, doesn't decline as much).
The next dog buyer reacts to the price and buys a cheaper animal, when without Vick's purchase, they would have bought the dog his kids got.
The next consumer defaults lower on the price chain.
And so on ...
Then a dog lover who would have bought gets a rescue instead, thereby saving that dogs life.
So all the consumers, working separately to achieve their own goals, achieve collectively the "good" of saving a dogs life.
This is of course an oversimplification that ignores the effect of demand on production via "puppy mills". But I still think it is a valid argument.
I bet Michael's kids are going to have one very spolied and pampered dog in a few years.
I have a dog. Have had several. Loved them all dearly. At the end of the day it's still just a dog. We're not talking about letting a pedophile or a child murderer adopt a child. The whole rat is a dog is a cow is a human thing is getting old. Michael Vick got more prison time and served more of a sentence than some rapists. Is what he did wrong, absolutely. In the grand scheme of things he paid his dues. Unless there was a stipulation in his sentence that bars him from owning a dog then let him have at it. I'm sure some will ask that we spend many dollars "supervising" his ownership...
As an aside, one of my wife's best friends loves dogs. I mean over the top. She is a wonderful person and was abused as a child by her father, etc... I get why the devotion to dogs. They don't hurt you, trust issues et al. We respect her wishes when we go over there and get trampled by the herd of dogs. No worries.
I've never asked her this but I would love to see the conflict on her face if I posed the follow question - "If you were driving down the street and were in situation where you either had to hit a dog or a child would you have to think about it?"
I would like to think she would be offended I asked and unflinchingly answer "No, of course I would hit the dog if I had no choice." I'm not sure that would be the case however. Think what you will of me. I'm a caring, compassionate person but we have bigger issues in this world.
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Don't make someone in your life a priority when they've made you an option!
I guess it all boils down to if you feel that people can feel remorse and be rehabilitated for their crimes.
I don't know how I feel about him getting a dog after what he did, but I would have to believe that he would not be caught harming any other animal or pet in the present or future.
I don't mind if he has a dog as long as the way he chooses it is to get into the pit with 3 or 4 fighters with beef fat smeared on his face. If he can walk out with one, it's his.
-- Edited by Cartera on Wednesday 15th of December 2010 10:18:41 PM
"I would love to have another dog," Vick said at his locker Wednesday. "My entire life I grew up with a pet in my house. The last few years were the first that I haven't had one. My daughter is used to it, my son is used to it. It's just different. I feel bad for them and the entire situation, what I did. It could be part of my rehabilitation process showing people I do care about animals sincerely and genuinely."
