Witness: Vick Forced Family Pets To Battle Killer Pit Bulls For Laughs

RICHMOND, Va. — Michael Vick put family pets in rings with pit bulls and thought it was funny watching the trained killers injure or kill the helpless dogs, a witness told federal investigators during the dogfighting investigation that brought Vick down.

In a 17-page report filed Aug. 28, 2008, by case agent James Knorr of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and released Friday under the Freedom of Information Act, a person identified as confidential witness No. 1 said Vick placed pets in the ring against pit bulls owned by "Bad Newz Kennels" at least twice and watched as the pit bulls "caused major injuries."

The witness said Vick and co-defendants Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips "thought it was funny to watch the pit bull dogs belonging to Bad Newz Kennels injure or kill the other dogs."

Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison in Dec. 2007, and is due to be released from the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kan., on July 20, 2009. He returned to Virginia on Thursday and is being held in Hopewell pending his appearance in Surry County Circuit Court on Tuesday, where he is expected to plead guilty to two felony charges but receive a suspended sentence.

The report, which has some names and other information redacted to protect some of the parties involved, also details the killing of several dogs at property Vick owned on Moonlight Road in Surry County in mid-April 2007, just days before the first search warrant was executed on the property, turning a drug investigation into the one that sent Vick to prison.

It says Vick was administered a polygraph test by the FBI in October 2007 and denied taking part in the killing of dogs in mid-April. When told he had failed that part of the test, Vick recanted his story and admitted to helping hang six to eight underperforming dogs.

The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, once the highest paid player in the NFL, has been suspended indefinitely by the league and his football future is uncertain. He's also in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings with $16 million in assets and $20.4 million in liabilities.

Peace, who also was convicted in the case, said there were times he suggested that dogs unwilling to fight be given away, but that Vick said "they got to go," meaning be killed.

The dogs were killed by shooting, hanging, electrocution and drowning, and in at least one instance, according to one of the witnesses, when Vick and Phillips killed a red pit bull by "slamming it to the ground several times before it died, breaking the dog's back or neck."

When he finally admitted to his role in the dogfighting operation, Vick also said he purchased his first pull bull, named "Champagne," while a student at Virginia Tech in 1999. The dog was never used in fights, but was bred with other dogs, according to the report.

Champagne was among the 53 pit bulls seized from the home in a raid in April 2007.

Comments

[seventhsonspeaks]

Sarah Palin shoots wolves from helicopters.

[RobertAndropolis]

If only someone would discover that video, that would end her ridiculous career.

[AmandaBC]

I don't think so. The 45% of American idiots who voted for her are proud of her Thanksgiving video with turkeys slaughtered in the background­...

[Zoidie]

There's a version of it on the NRDC web site, though it doesn't "feature" Palin herself shooting.

[SpaghettyIrish]

I've seen aerial hunting footage. Actual video. As barbaric as it sounds or looks in text, it's a million times worse on vid. The wolf has no cover, basically, and the plane is flying so low and slow...I despise sport hunting, but this is a special kind of evil toward animals carried out by the well-off cruel.

[commonsense2]

People hate her for that too. This post is about Vick.

[thankulord13]

Whatever! You need to get a life!

[meyek]

no evidence to suggest that sarah palin ever personally hunted wolves from a helicopter. she did/does condone it however. those wolves were not hunted in the sense that deer and moose are hunted, they were targeted for extermination because of a threat to human and domestic animals.

that said, there is no reason to have chased and tormented these animals when a single bullet from a great distance could have done the job just as effectively. i also have a problem with these exterminations during denning season. mr vick's actions are analogous to importing wolves to create a threat that must be dealt with by killing them. comparisons of these cases are not accurate.

[hrhkat]

hunting, and forced animal fights as completely different, while i have never hunted and while i think its wrong unless your starving in the woods, i do know there is a difference. Keeping animals in cages with little food and infections, then shocking them to fight, to kill eachother for sadistic pleasure is sooo different then just shooting a deer, or even a wolf. The deer population in the north east is out of control and needs to be slowed because they can cause massive accidents human deaths, and people hunt wolves to protect their livestock.­..

[Twinkie]

Many of you are missing the larger issue. It's not just the acts of cruelty to the dogs that is important. It's also the effect that engaging in those acts has on the person(s) involved. There is no comparison whatsoever to what this guy did and lawfully owning a gun or eating a steak.

[Zoidie]

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more.

[MissingAmerica]

This is unbelievable! When he is released, let him be our next export to China. His mentality when it comes to brutality and inhumane treatment of living creatures is much more in line with theirs!

[chonus]

Why you hatin' on China??

[StellaRay]

Cruelty as entertainment is evil squared.

[Happylib]

I don't care what price he pays, it will never be enough for the level of cruelty he showed to these animals. This is one scenario that I believe is unforgiveable and I will fight until my last breath to make sure he is left penniless and suffering. There are no words to describe my disgust with this beast, no offense to beasts.

[Bocado]

What a demented sick f---

[Scandalouscandice5]

I want him to play football again. He will have a huge target on his back and hopefully be hit so hard we get to relive Joe Theismann's infamous leg break on him.

[CharlottesvilleVA]

No way. He doesn't deserve to make big bucks any longer. Let him play in Canada. Or let him get a job with the highway department or at Lowe's or something.

[crazylikeafox]

Get a clue corporate America.
Vick is hated by a vast swath of people for what he did.
Don't try to bring him back to sell your crap.
You will have a backlash against your company.

[RomanFingers]

Hey, wait just a minute there! Lowe's has nail guns & barbed wire, while the highway department would give him a stick with a nail poking out the end. You can be sure that a mind this demented to torture animals for laughs would be a risk with a fork on a plane! The only "play" this guy should be doing involves dropping the soap in prison showers.

[2cntswrth]

His behavior was hideous. I can't imagine that kind of cruelty just for sport. He must really be sick.

[judoka61]

I guess the old saying "de gustibus non est disputandum" would not apply at all in this case.
:-B

[roninroshi]

Vick should be "caned" on a daily basis as should all who cause harm to animals...

[123dee]

Put him in a cage with a dozen pit bulls

[barnamink]

Uh...

How about putting him in jail, and rehabilitating the pit bulls and adopting them out to loving homes?

[Lolade]

You so called "civilised" people treat your children worse than you treat your pets. Quit the hypocrisy, you fight for your right to bear arms to kill your fellow humans and yet you gasp when a dog is killed.

If you eat steak, chicken, pork, veal, lamb etc you are no better than someone who kills dogs. (for sport of for food) Who decided dogs were our friends and chickens are not?

If you are jailing people for cruelty, then pretty much half the white race would and should be in jail. The British practised and have continued to practise fox hunting for centuries.

Asians eat dogs, would you be interested in locking them away for good too?

If its a black issue, what about slavery, when blacks were thought to be worse than animals and were sold or beaten to death.
Revisit your history and be less hypocritical. He has done his time - leave him alone.
And yes, I am black and I have dogs and I am not a meat eater..

[crazylikeafox]

He's got some time to go.

[Luvnumber9]

AMEN!!!! I don't eat meat either!!!!

[zapper501]

thank you for being the dumbest person in the world

[robXdion]

And thank you for being the lamest.

[Zoidie]

This is free country, we are free to express our views on inhuman cruel behavior..­.. I am Asian and if the culprit were an Asian I would be just as outraged. Please quit making false comparison­s..... Cultures have vastly diverse mores and values. At one point in history we were cannibals - we aren't anymore... we evolve, morally, consciousl­y....BTW, do most people who eat chicken torture the chickens before eating them.... grow a brain before you venture forth to lecture fellow denizens on "leaving Vick alone"....­.Vick deserves all he gets and more. Inhumane, cruel behavior is intolerabl­e.....no matter where it is found. You bring up history; indeed the cruelties heaped upon our back brothers and sisters were unthinkable. It is precisely because enough people were outraged about those actions that they have (today) become illegal and punishable actions...­. you need to revisit *your* history and understand that cruelty ignored is cruelty revisited.

[robXdion]

What was the cryptic meaning in that last line with the (*your*)??? Does that mean "you black people"? Stop tippytoeing and be direct with your bigoted statements. The poster above was making the comparison because undoubtedly many of the people responding in here are not black. They are acting like this is OJ or something. Both men are really catalysts for non-blacks to release their inner distaste and hatred for black men in acceptable ways under the guise of righteousness. But it's really overblown. The comparison to how black people were treated in this country is timely because that elicited little or no compassion from non-blacks for decades. But this causes hysterics and people wishing grievous bodily harm to the man? Interesting. Also, before you want to allude to negatives in black culture or history you may want to look at Asian history too. That's nothing to pound your chest over either in terms of human OR animal rights.

[Lolade]

He has been punished, it is not cruelty ignored.

Do you honestly believe we have evolved as a race?? Read the comments on this post and if the vitriol does not cause you some kind of alarm...th­en nothing will

Cruelty ignored is... the pastors' wife who shot her husband and was released..­... the guy who microwaved his child, the one who killed his wife and dumped her body in the dumpster..­.. people beating people to death....t­he thousands of people in jail because someone accused them of a crime they did not commit.... global poverty...­..keeping people in Guantanimo Bay simply because they can....pol­ice brutality.­... these are consistent cruelties that people deal with everyday simply because we have not evolved as a race.

When I revisit my history and those of my ancestors, I can sleep at night. Can you?

Michael Vick is the least of your problems and as robXdion says below

"Both men (OJ and Vick) are really catalysts for non-blacks to release their inner distaste and hatred for black men in acceptable ways under the guise of righteousn­ess." but you knew that already, didn't you?

Also growing a brain is also not an option as you well know, because you are born with one and then you try as much as possible to use it - by thinking - really hard. That's how a brain grows.

...so try to do that, starting tommorrow:).

[gaebolgaes]

a few years ago a group of young black teenaged soldiers sent to japan to keep it and the usa safe..were accused of raping a japanese girl.the japanese ..screamed bloody murder and went berserk.th­ese kids are serving time in japanese prisons where they are being tortured and brainwashed .yet..thes­e same japanese people refuse to compensate the "confort girls" ....those korean women who were forced to serve in rape cabins for japanese solders during the war .this is all part of the human pathos..it­s all about whose bull has been gored.if hitler and the japanese had won the war the usa would have been tried at nurnburg for nagasaki and hiroshima and the nazi death camp commandants would have been touted as glorious heros of the third reich and pit bulls would have been bred for human consumption and dog meat would be on every menu in every restaurant in japan.

[fuzzynormal]

||"If you are jailing people for cruelty, half the white race would and should be in jail. "

Pffsst. You might want to drop the adjective. White folk ain't nothing special in that regard. All humanity does it.

And it so happens that I've personally killed chickens many times and ate 'em. I also snuggled with 'em when they were cute and fuzzy spring chicks. I don't know. I still think I'm an okay guy.

I certainly didn't torture animals before they were killed for cheap thrills and high money. Just food.

[Dupree]

I will always place a higher premimum on humans over any and all animals simply because I recognize that there are levels of status of life. I do not like what he did to the animals and would love to see him get some therapy for why would anyone find violent acts a sport? Oh, yeah...we watch two men in a ring fighting in the name of boxing....­and previously mankind participated in gladiators sports that make boxing looks tame. I do not understand it and I would love this to be explored for the same people who is angry at this man and would love to send him to jail...wil­l sit and watch a violent exchange between human beings for sport...bu­t that is legal isn't it?

[crazylikeafox]

Sounds like you're at the top made right in the "image of God."

[TheWanderer]

The difference (one of them anyway) is that in boxing, both fighters are there of their own free will.

[stefiz]

people make the choice to fight for money or glory(greed) no dog wants to be ripped to shreds,abu­sed,tortur­ed,or killed!!
i agree wholeheartedly with the idea that there is a higher premimum on human life but that is no excuse to harm another living thing!!

[scottowego]

oh ya. Wait twenty or thiry years when we've got gladiators back in the ring fighting to the death on live tv. History will eventually repeat itself. In my oppinion humans have absolutely nothing to brag about except maybe destrying this planet. hmmm.

[stefiz]

i should have said torture instead of harm... sorry

[Zoidie]

It is precisely because we elevate humans to the point of idolizing them over other creatures that the planet is in the mess that it finds itself....­. our species centric view needs revisiting.

[ZoraBee]

I agree. Thank you.

[Dupree]

God said "Lets make man after our own image after our own likeness." I find it ironic how people are so quick to overlook human sufferings and blame them for their own predicaments, for I am talking about the genocide of HUMANS that are taking place NOW on this planet we share with other HUMAN BEINGS. I do not mean to be insensitive but I am tired of animals being placed in a higher level than God himself has placed them. In spite of our twisted mind of thinking there is a hierchy in life and the more we fail to recognize that profound truth we will continue to raise the value of animals over the value of humans. I will repeatedly state that I do not endorse or support the actions of this man but what concerns me is the lack of love people show to another fellow human who is made in the image of God (whether they act like it or not....the­y ARE) and yet find all the love and warmth for animals. Keep in mind ...that in China...Do­gs are not considered pets...and they are served every day on a plate. As graphic as that image may be....it is the truth and dogs in China is the equivalent of chicken or turkey.

[crazylikeafox]

Save it for your fellow hypocrites in church tomorrow.

[commonsense2]

"A society can be measured by how it treats its animals" - Ghandi

By the way Dupree, not all of us here go to your church ans some of us might think animals are worthy of compassion and love.

So what if they if they serve dogs to eat in China? They also pollute their own drinking water and produce poison food, so is thta what you really want to hold yourself to?

[Zoidie]

Agreed.

[Zoidie]

Quit making false comparisons. This isn't about degrading human life. It is about addressing the issue of immoral and cruel behavior..­...also, wherever dogs are served on a platter (for food) I sincerely hope they aren't tortured before they are killed. First things, first... get a brain.

[gaebolgaes]

they make sure the dogs waiting to be slaughtered see the dogs ahead in line being slaughtered. the fear this causes makes the dog waiting in line secrete fear hormones which tenderizes and makes the meat tastier.ca­n you imagine someone eating and enjoying a nice juicy dog steak while he or she is bitching about michael vick fighting pitbulls.

[ZoraBee]

What people like you need to understand is that love for and care of animals does not exclude love for and care of humans. Can our hearts and lives expand enough to include all?

[Zoidie]

You make a very good point. Didn't quite think of it that way...... excellent.

[crazylikeafox]

Remember Vick's pathetic attempt to stay out of jail by claiming he "came to Jesus"?

[gaebolgaes]

you mean like all those bible thumpin bitter gun totin born agains and evangelicals out in the "dry september" and "the eyes have hills" sections of the usa? when i was growing up in the 50 s and 60 s..they never hid behind euphemisms like that. then..they called themselves the KKK and they were damned proud of it.you know what else? they fight dogs ever damned weekend.bu­ll baitin and dog fighting didn't start with michael vick..it started in ireland and england and came over here with davey crocket and daniel boone. "the call of the wild" is nothing more than an expose and a glorification of dogfighting. what happened with vick is that a bunch of "dry september" racists... in the former slave state of virginia saw a young black man blessed with looks...mi­llions and talent ...out in hollywood dating young beautiful blondes like jessica simpson and they lost their minds.

[Zoidie]

Pleeeeeze.­........ stop the illogical drivel. Are you advocating that we go back to the "glory days"? How about we start eating each other because a hundred thousand years (or so) ago homosapiens did? ....

Time have have changed from the 50s and 60s. The moral compass has shifted.

What you so afraid of? What's the problem with admitting that Michael Vick is a sick sick man who tortured animals for fun?

[funzilla]

lets not forget that the pit bulls were victims here. they were abused and tortured into becoming fighting dogs and then abused and tortured as fighting dogs. as a result of this bust, many of these "killer pit bulls" have been rehabilitated and finally given the opportunity to be normal dogs. a few have even been certified as therapy dogs and another is on his way.