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Almost everyone has heard of Michael Dwayne Vick. Many know him by his football playing prowess. He was a perfect example of "local boy makes good". He was born June 26, 1980 in Virginia City, Virginia and grew up in the economically depressed inner-city. He excelled In high school football and he received a full 4 year football scholarship at Virginia Tech.
Vick did not finish college but declared himself for the NFL draft in 2001 and was signed by the Atlanta Falcons. He once again excelled, and as quarterback, set records for his performance. He also became very popular and in strong demand for product endorsements and playing contracts.
He was reported to be in the top 10 richest athletes in the U.S. By 2006. A success story to the extreme. He reportedly signed a $130 million contract with the Falcons in December 2004. For the football enthusiasts, you may access his impressive stats while with the Falcons at:
http://www.nfl.com/players/michaelvick/profile?id=VIC311467
But as many others have done, he allowed his youthful passions to lead him into difficulties, while with the Falcons (2001 to 2007).
In the first part of 2004 in Virginia, police arrested two men for distributing marijuana and the truck they were driving belonged to Michael Vick. Then later that year two of his friends were caught on a security camera packing an expensive watch belonging to a Falcon Executive. They later sent his watch back after much newspaper coverage. These instances and more can be read in an archived article of the Atlanta Journal Constitution at:
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/falcons/stories/2007/07/21/0722vickbio.html
In March 14, 2005, a Georgia woman, Sonya Elliott, filed a suit against him for negligence and battery, claiming that he infected her with Herpes Simplex 2. I have been unable to locate the resolution of the case other than that it was settled. The article and suit record can be viewed at: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0405051vick1.html
Vick and the Falcon executives were very astute at keeping the damaging information against him limited, which is also addressed in the article of the Atlanta Journal Constitution above. But the real problem arose in April 2007 when an large dog fighting complex was discovered on property he had purchased in Surry County, Virginia. He faced felony charges by the Virginia authorities as well as similar federal charges. He was suspended from the NFL and lost his product endorsements. After considerable publicity and plea bargaining, many of the charges were dropped but he was sentenced to 23 months in Leavenworth Federal Prison.
Now, that explains Michael Vick's life to this point, but now let's talk about the dogs. From a personal standpoint as a man who loves dogs as if they were human, I consider killing and/or abusive treatment of them, similarly to my stand against abortion and child abuse. Here is the opening paragraph from "What happened to Michael Vick's dogs" in the December 23 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine:
"Since being rescued 20 months ago from the dogfighting ring financed by Michael Vick, all but a few of the abused pit bulls have been recovering in sanctuary, foster care and adoptive homes. Now even the most traumatized of them can have a happy new year."
The article in Sports Illustrated is lengthy and exceptionally good reading. I would urge all dog lovers to read it carefully and also to visit their photo gallery slide show. But a lady named Donna Reynolds executive director of BAD RAP (Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls) and others requested and eventually got permission to have experts check out the dogs and any that could be rehabilitated, physically and emotionally, could be taken and helped. Of the fifty something dogs only 4 or 5 were judged to be too damaged to restore. A couple had died from injuries they had received. The article gives many details which will bring tears to your eyes.
One, whose picture is on the cover of the Sports Illustrated magazine is named Sweet Jasmine. Her story is heart breaking. She is now well cared for and loved. Her health is good and she is no longer aggressive or dangerous but she displays a sadness or broken spirit of some type. She will never be the happy, romping dog for which this breed is so well known. Here is a paragraph describing how she became adopted:
In her evaluation Jasmine was considered for sanctuary with Best Friends, but when volunteers from the Baltimore rescue group Recycled Love went to see the pit bulls at the Washington (D.C.) Animal Rescue League, a volunteer was so moved by the sight of Jasmine hiding under the blanket that she crawled into the cage and began massaging and whispering to the dog. Jasmine seemed to respond. So Huss sent Jasmine and Sweet Pea to Recycled Love, which subsequently turned Jasmine over to the woman who had crawled into the cage: Catalina Stirling.
But the story of another, named Zippy, will bring tears of delight for her exuberance and happiness.
That wasn't hard to do with Zippy. When she arrived from the rescue group BAD RAP (Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls) in October 2007, "she was afraid of her own shadow," says Berenice. Loud noises made her jump, and when she entered another room she'd crawl through the doorway on her belly. That lasted about six weeks, but once Zippy got comfortable she took over the house. She races from room to room, goes for runs with Berenice and plays in the yard with the other two dogs: the family's big blue pit bull, Crash, and another foster dog, Roller, a bulldog-pit mix.
So 47 dogs were saved from being destroyed by these compassionate people. Forty seven of those, in this writers view, from one of the most wonderful breeds in the entire world. No dog has a naturally stronger affection towards humans, than does the Pit Bull. Their reputation and their few violent incidents are totally misleading. Those which are aggressive have either been trained that way, suffered abusive treatment or were provoked in some way. It is not their nature to harm humans. There are some few which have been bred of highly aggressive parents who are natured that way but these are a tiny minority and should never be bred anymore.
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