Alright, this is not really related to college life in anyway. But 1) i need something to write about, and 2) this has been bothering me for awhile. People spend so much time berating Michael Vick about his animal cruelty and how bad of a man he is, but I don't think so.
For those of you who don't know, Michael Vick was a star quarterback for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons. He revolutionized the quarterback position by and has been a fan favorite for many years. Recently, Vick was involved in a dog fighting scandal that has threatened the future of his career. Now everybody hates him. He's been labeled the "thug" of pro sports.
So I'm going to go ahead and make a statement: Michael Vick did almost nothing wrong. Sure he broke a law, but he broke a stupid law at that. Before you jump down my throat, hear me out. I think dog fighting is just as cruel as a certain favorite past-time in America: hunting. When someone hunts, their not automatically labeled a "thug." Their not cut down for being cruel to animals. In hunting after you kill an animal, you rip the meat off its carcass. Then you EAT it. Now that's cruel. And downright disgusting. Last I checked, hunting is legal.
Have you seen what they do to chickens and pigs before their turned into the meat we eat? It's even worse. But of course, hunting and slaughter is okay... but dog fighting is not?
Now here's the deal: I think their both equally disgusting and equally wrong. But if one is okay, then why isn't the other? If Michael Vick can walk outside and shoot and kill a deer, why can't he fight a dog? If hunting is legal, dog fighting should be too.
The ONLY thing Vick did wrong was knowingly break a law. For that, he is responsible. But to think about kicking him out of the league? He should recieve a four game suspension and nothing more.
1 comment:
I think you make a somewhat valid argument, but there is a flaw in your thinking. First and foremost, I am about the farthest thing from an animal rights activist. However, dog fighting differs from hunting and livestock farming in that these dogs suffer for years, whereas the others suffer for a very short period of time, if any. The last technique I heard of killing a chicken is to cut its head off. I'm not sure if that is still how they do it, but if the brain and heart are disconnected, then the body dies and no pain is felt because the nervous system isn't intact, even if the chicken does run around for a while.
Also, hunting/farming provides food for people to eat (kind of a necessity), whereas dog fighting only produces illegal gambling (except maybe in China, not sure).
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