Last week a petition began making its rounds online. It demanded that the NFL remove Michael Vick as honorary Pro Bowl Captain. In case you weren’t aware or have forgotten, Michael Vick is most known for the atrocious things he did to dogs.
In 2007, Vick was found guilty of running a dogfighting ring. He served less than two years in prison. Not long after, the NFL took him back with open arms. He retired in 2017.
But Vick didn’t just run a dogfighting ring. He tortured dogs and was never really punished for it. He was charged with dogfighting but was never charged for his inhumane actions to dogs outside of the ring. He took a plea deal and got off easy. I see the justice system fail dogs often, but in the case of Michael Vick’s dogs, their suffering was blatantly ignored.
Court documents note that Vick used family dogs as bait for his fighting dogs. When a dog didn’t perform well during a fight, he murdered them by hanging them, shooting them, or electrocuting them. I’ve read reports that stated Vick nailed a dog to a tree. I read another that explained in detail that he slammed a dog over and over on the hard cement until it died. In another account, Vick clipped a battery charger clip to each ear of a dog and threw it in his pool.
The stories and the ways in which he executed dogs goes on and on. Frankly, there is not enough time in the world that could be served to make me forgive a person who does this kind of thing. But here is the NFL, giving him an “honorary” title.
Micheal Vick doesn’t deserve to be honored in any way. It’s quite appalling that he was welcomed back with open arms by the NFL less than two years after being found guilty of being a dog murderer anyway.
Most people seem to be in agreement that Vick should not be honored in this, or in any way. But I have read comments from a few that say, “He did his time. He should be allowed to move on” or “Since that time in his life, he’s become a big animal advocate.” Hey, sure, I’d become a huge animal advocate too if it made me look bbetter after the horrible things I did to dogs. Some people don’t get to “do the time” and be forgiven.
A normal person would never commit these types of atrocities to begin with. I know I certainly wouldn’t be trusting someone like Michael Vick to watch my dogs for a day, and there is no amount of time or animal advocacy that he could give that would change that.
Sometimes, the things you do stay with you for the rest of your life, and there are some actions that can never be forgiven.
While he may have served his time in jail, the public is not ready to forgive Michael Vick for the things he’s done to dogs. For the NFL to condemn and blacklist a guy who simply kneels in protest of his brothers and sisters being killed, yet to reward a man who tortured living creatures is sick.
People’s, and especially the NFL’s, priorities seem to be in the wrong place.
Michael Vick’s legacy will forever be as a monster who purposely hurt animals. I refuse to let him be known for anything else. A dog murderer does not deserve to be honored, ever.
Agree
Take a knee, you’re out. Killed and torture dogs, welcome back.