Michael Vick: Black Sheep or Scapegoat on Animal Rights?
Several years ago, I was attending a fundraiser for an animal rights organization hosted by a prominent couple who lived in the Las Vegas area. Like me, the husband had been pulled through the door of the animal rights movement by his significant other, but had become a dedicated vegetarian after being exposed to the facts and opinions of the animal rights community regarding meat production and consumption. He told me that his conversion was particularly tough, as he had grown up in Texas. I suggested that not eating meat in Texas must be a special kind of blasphemy. He said, "Shoot, man. We used to barbecue the whole herd and throw away half!" I just started at him, unblinking, for about five seconds.
I recalled that exchange when I saw that Michael Vick signed with the Eagles.
I have supported and/or worked with a number of animal rights groups, both local and national. Whether it be donating to pet adoption facilities like the North Shore Animal League on Long Island, opposing the carriage horses in Central Park, hosting fundraisers for the Performing Animal Welfare Society in San Andreas, California or appearing in video programs for PETA, protecting the rights of animals has been important to me ever since my ex-wife introduced me to Ingrid Newkirk and Alex Pacheco, the founders of PETA. I learned about issues involving the crash-testing of live animals by Detroit carmakers, the use of monkeys and other animals in medical experimentation and the testing of everything from medicines to machinery to make-up for the purposes of measuring product liability. I learned about how meat is produced and slaughtered, how milk is "manufactured" and, thanks to Dr. Neal Barnard and the Physicians for Responsible Medicine, how childhood obesity and related illnesses have soared over the past 25 years due to the poor diets of kids hooked on fast food. I learned about the horrific abuses of animals in circuses, zoos, rodeos, thoroughbred horse racing and anywhere that animals are used in performances. Meeting an unimaginably dedicated soul like Pat Derby or Ed Stewart of PAWS changed my life.
What Vick did is, obviously, senseless and reprehensible. But I believe Vick, as a wealthy and talented athletic superstar who performs his job out in the open before crowds of amped-up and highly opinionated fans, suffers an unfair disadvantage as compared to, say, the heads of a meatpacking plant or the directors of a medical research lab where animals are suffering the cruelest imaginable abuses behind walls and doors that remove them from our sight and, therefore, judgments. Vick did horrific things and he deserved to be punished. He served his time and now I wonder what good does it do to exile him in shame and not let him show his example of how one can be rehabilitated after that kind of behavior. If Vick returns to his true form as an NFL pro, that platform can mean real progress for the animal rights movement. Or do some people really not want to open that conversation? Vick is one man who, along with his friends, brutally tortured and killed many innocent dogs and called it a sport. Each day in this country, millions upon millions of animals are suffering lives of daily abuse in factory farming, but we turn away because that animal, unlike Vick's dogs, ends up on a grill and then on our plates. Animals that are not raised as pets suffer in ways that you and I don't really want to know. And in economic hard times like now, support for groups like the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and other prominent players in the animal rights movement, drops precipitously.
Vick is easy to target as a villain. But the man who should have been setting an example for his young fans about how to comport oneself off the field can still do so. Donating a healthy figure from his enormous salary to any mixture of animal rights groups seems like a good start to me. I have a list for Vick when he is ready. But to ban Vick, to cast him aside and simply hate him, knowing that someone in his position stands potentially ready (and I do stress potentially) to effectively serve the interests of the very groups and individuals that he most offended, would be a mistake. Especially when there are enterprises operating in this country who will torture and kill more animals than a thousand Michael Vicks ever could, but you can not buy a ticket to watch them perform their job on a Sunday afternoon.
Vick deserves another chance. One chance. Just like all of us who eat meat, drink milk, attend rodeos, circuses, zoos and horse races and yet find it easier to hand Vick the bill for all of the other, more systemic abuses in our society may find ourselves needing another chance one day. Just like Michael Vick.
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Michael Macher: What Animals Teach Us About What It Means To Be Human
What if you found yourself without a vocabulary with which to express the immediacy of your experience? Well, then you might know what it feels like to be an animal living in a world dominated by Homo sapiens.
Judith Ellis: Extremism over Humanism in Animal Rights
While the work that PETA does is commendable in many aspects, I often think that they go too far
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Humans have been torturing and killing each other since the dawn of humanity and aren't about to stop any time soon. I think it's preposterous that you think you can get humans to stop killing animals when they won't even stop killing each other.
Honestly, I could never understand what is so interesting about a bunch of oversized overpaid individuals with rather low IQ running around a field and knocking each other down and then in their spare time doing drugs and killing people and dogs! This behavior is being effectively condoned by the league and therefore the league should be considered complicit in the crime. The league itself should be held accountable for the behavior of its players. All they are interested in is money and money alone. And it is to this end that they are reinstating Vick and will have him paid very handsomely. By suspending and then reinstating him the commissioner is creating more buzz, more excitement, more viewership and ultimately more money for the league. That is exactly what he wants. After all it is not about Vick it is about NFL. So do not fall for this and stop watching this rather stupid game. They must be fined as the accomplices in the crime which they are. Then perhaps they will have second thoughts about reinstating him and the likes of him (and there are plenty of them there). An easy way to make them pay is for people to stop watching this violent game and use their time more productively . Should our children be looking up to someone who tortures animals? Remember - violence breeds and validates violence and also remember if you watch the game (any NFL game) you pay Vick’s salary…..!
This is one of the most ignorant posts I've ever read on the Huffington Post--it's actually approaching a Townhall.com level of moronic generalization. By your logic, any business that hires an ex-felon is "complicit in the crime." Unless you can provide a specific example of the NFL--not individuals within it, but statements from the league itself--condoning Vick's behavior, you're essentially saying that every industry that hires any person "the likes of him" should be boycotted. Should every person who's been released from prison become a societal pariah forever?
For that matter, how is the NFL an "accomplice" in his crime? Do you understand what an accomplice is? Did the NFL build his dog fighting ring? Was Roger Goodell there, drowning and electrocuting dogs alongside his best buddy Michael? The answer to all these questions is "no." They threw him from the league, suspended millions of dollars' worth of pay (an accomplice might have let him keep his money, for "lawyers" and "not snitching" and the like), and raised no objection to his jail sentence. Prior to his conviction, Michael Vick was the NFL's #1 attraction, the sort of player who could sell a nationwide broadcast of a team that typically enjoys a fairly small demographic.
Beyond that, you've also entirely missed the point of the article. By sensationalizing the case of a single celebrity, you deflect attention from or outright ignore the industries that PETA stands in opposition to.
Wonderful blog. I wish Michael Vick would comment on his friends in the entertainment industy who defended his role as a dog-fighter. Remember when Whoopie Goldberg trivialized his offense, saying dog-fighting was "a Southern tradition." And was it Chris Rock who famously said, "They're his dogs, I guess he can do what he wants with them?" Before Michael Vick starts educating inner-city youth on the evils of dog-fighting, he could start with his celebrity friends. He's been conspicuously silent on his issue.
I find it odd that so many Americans are "outraged" at Vick while they sit there eating bacon and wearing leather jackets. I'm outraged too, but I'm not a hypocrite. What he did was wrong because torturing animals is wrong, period. It's ridiculous to say that torturing dogs is wrong, but letting pigs suffer in factory farms is ok because they taste good. Why is it ok to harm one animal and not another? Because some animals are smarter? Taste better? Their fur looks nice in coat form?
On a daily basis I have to practice forgiveness with my huntin' an fishin' up nort dere family and you people can't forgive Vick even though he went to PRISON? I'm sure he knows what he did was wrong but instead of crucifying him, why not take the opportunity to educate yourselves and others about animal welfare issues so this sort of thing doesn't happen again?
Support!
Really nice pov on social justice -- that the justice part continues throughout the process of the issue at hand, not just through the condemnation part.
If we want to set an example, or make an example using this person, then I can see Alec's point that we go all the way, and we, particularly those interested in animal right's, show how our society can transform negative behaviors into positive, life-affirming ones.
If we leave Michael Vick holding the bag, and turn away from him, then we leave that baggage as part of our social being, it stays with us, unresolved. Supporting him through a positive transformation helps clear the darkness of the abuse of animals, and helps us learn to be more decent, patient, and caring towards one another, lessening the desire for such activities to take place in the first place.
So many have posted that Alec Baldwin run for Senate. That isn't a bad idea, as he has a very balanced, compassionate, inclusive perspective. Perhaps, if he feels like it, for a term or so, not to be a lifer, since he likes his profession and doesn't want to change it, but as a citizen doing his duty, serving the public good for a term of office. (Like Jesse Ventura did as gov of Minnesota.)
Too bad he's not an attorney, for he would make a great judge.
Best to all.
spirited dona has seen people state they would eat a dog hamburger on this blog, and yet get two posts approved! i have had 3 post unapproved that would not be inappropriate-- but dead on honest to Alec! i never thought he banned honesty. if you like animals , American humane is a good way to get over your vick outrage or offer a neighbor or a foodbank pet food. Thumbs up!
Alec, It's ok to forgive Vick and move on .He just plain old didn't know any better. It would be nice if Vick made a few small donations to animal shelters to help everyday people like myself who are feeding stray cats, rounding them up and taking them to the shelter, Humane Soc. to be fixed for free. The only catch is, I have to bring them home to keep them and feed them.
I didn't move out to the country to rescue cats. I wanted the simple life. I ran into a mess here. Poor people dump their cats in my driveway. I'm thinking about building another barn just for cats.
Alec is an unusually good writer - i wonder if he has an editor? This is my second posting of his to read (the first was a very moving tribute to Kenny Rankin) and i'm intrigued by the responses/comments i've read. Alec covers the issues as well as he can in a short essay, and i can see the controversy that will probably never go away, but i hope anyone with issues with Michael Vick, PETA, the Humane Society, and even North Shore will see the solution right before them and donate locally to animal rescue groups and your municipal animal shelter and/or advocate for no-kill shelters, both governmental and non-profit. For information, start with a veterinarian in your area or a pet groomer/boarder or a pet store on adoption day - you'll be overwhelmed at the need out there locally.
I agree that Mike Vick has served his time, "paid his debt to society", as it were. What amazes me is that a man who kills dogs gets more time in prison than a man who kills people. Dante Stallworth gets 30 days, of which he only served 24, for killing Mario Reyes in Miami. 2 years of house arrest??? Get real. Vick served time in Leavenworth, a FEDERAL lock up!
Mike Vick should be allowed back into the NFL. Stallworth should be in prison!!!
I dont feel it is up to any of us to determine or judge Vick's fate in the NFL. If the NFL has rules about membership and breaking the law (one way or the other) .. then so be it.
I'm a pet owner who would never live without one and I agree. I believe a guy this young and talented is in the best position to encourage others not to do as he did. I heard animal rights groups in PA publicly saying they will refuse any volunteer or monetary support from him. Frankly that is crazy - the animals his money would benefit, don't care what his motivation for giving is. I love redemption stories. I am from Philly and I hope he finds a new life here and I'm proud our Eagles gave him that chance. And I hope he appreciates and lives up to it. One of the best lessons our pets teach us is unconditional love and forgiveness - hope the animal rights people remember that.
Well said, Mr. Baldwin. However, as we all know, everything in the US boils down to economics, so Mr. Vick will be allowed to resume his well paid career.
I witnessed the senseless cruelty to lab animals "freed" by PETA or a PETA-inspired group on a winter-time raid on a research lab at Washington State University in the early 1990s. Most all of the "freed" rabbits and rodents either froze to death or were eaten by coyotes. Not to mention the destruction of lab equipment, including computer files that may have contained medical research that we all fund through our tax dollars. What a "nobel" act. Ignorant, disgusting and lawless would be terms that more readily come to my mind.
Yes, I do eat meat, although I don't go hunting anymore. And yes, I gladly support organizations such as the ASPCA with my contributions.
I'm chiming in late here, but I wanted to remind Mr. Baldwin and others that PETA and the HSUS wanted to kill all these dogs. My brother adopted one of these dogs and he is the most lovable dog ever. But if PETA and the HSUS had their way he'd be dead. So maybe that is why those particular organizations are having a hard time finding monetary donations. People have caught on to the hypocrisy of these organizations and are donating their money elsewhere.
Alec, Thanks for emphasizing the larger problems of routine, apparently legal, pracitces of animal abuse. I wil step up my efforts to stay away from meat.
A voice of reason.....in an age of extremists...BRAVO!!!!
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