Michael Vick, American Hypocrisy and Puppies

“You can judge a society by the way it treats its animals.” - Mahatma Ghandi

"I hated that movie. They killed a dog in it!" - The majority of people, after seeing any movie in which a dog gets killed.


Today, Michael Vick accepted a plea deal in his federal dogfighting case and is likely to see 12-16 months in prison. People all over the country feel vindicated by this. Why? Because they feel that Vick SHOULD go to jail for allegedly participating and funding a dog fighting ring as well as taking part in the killing of a few dogs. The killing of dogs is what strikes a chord with most people. They hear that Vick was "involved" with dog fighting and they say, "That's disgusting! Why would anybody do that?" But they hear that he "executed" dogs by hanging and drowning them and all of a sudden it's, "THROW HIM IN JAIL FOR LIFE! HOW COULD HE KILL A DOG?!" Let's take a step back and look at the big picture here.

First of all, I in no way condone harming animals, especially for sport or financial gain. I am a buddhist, after all, and do not believe in harming living things of any kind. And I was just as horrified as most people when I read the details in the indictment. But unlike most people, my first thought wasn't that Vick should be locked up. My first thought was that Vick needs some counseling and/or psychiatric help.

"How can you say that? The guy KILLED...A...DOG! He needs to be put away!" The only reason everybody is calling for Vick's head is because most people have some sort of emotional attachment to dogs. Many people own dogs themselves. Dogs are cute and smart and great companions and "man's best friend". Who on Earth would harm a dog?! Well it just so happens that a majority of these dog lovers wouldn't hesitate to throw a live lobster into a pot of boiling water to cook it. Nor would they think twice about setting up a mousetrap to break the neck of those mice in their basement. Nor would they bat an eye when throwing a few pounds of raw cattle flesh on the grill. People, in large part, are hypocrites when it comes to animal cruelty. They always want the cute ones to be saved but don't care about the ugly/mean/unsavory ones. We've all heard of "Save the Whales". Have you ever seen a "Save the Raccoons" bumper sticker? I rest my case.

Of course, the double-standard is nothing new to America. As George Carlin once said, this country was FOUNDED on the double-standard ("This country was founded by slave-owners who wanted to be free"). But that doesn't mean we need to perpetuate it. Sometimes we need to just stop and look in the mirror. This is a country where dog fighting is illegal, but any redneck with a 47 IQ can go out into the woods with a shotgun and kill a deer or a bear, cut its head off, and mount it on his wall. I can't be the only one who sees the ridiculousness in this.

This shit happens all the time. One of my favorite instances to point out is mentioned in Michael Moore's book Stupid White Men. In it, he talks about his movie Roger & Me and the one scene in the movie that censors urged him to cut. He refused to do so, and thousands of people who viewed the film wrote in expressing their displeasure with the scene. The segment of the film shows a woman who makes textiles from rabbit fur, killing and skinning a rabbit. (See it here) The outrage is understandable. Nobody wants to watch a rabbit killed and skinned. But Moore points out there's a scene in the same movie in which police shoot a mentally retarded man in the middle of the street. The scene did not garner a single letter from moviegoers. What does that say about us as a society?

It seems to me that there would have been less of an outrage if Vick had gotten drunk and run over somebody with his car. Hell, Leonard Little (another NFL player) did exactly that a few years ago and it was barely a blip on the national radar. But I bet if he had killed a few puppies, there would be a lot of people wanting him thrown in jail.

Again, I'm not saying that Vick did nothing wrong. He did. But the punishment should fit the crime. And those of you calling for the feds to lock Vick up and throw away the key, just step back and think things out for a bit.