Still All About the Benjamins: Michael Vick in Talks for Bail-Out Reality Show

You may remember Michael Vick, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback who is currently serving a 23-month sentence for running an illegal dog fighting kennel.  The six-year operation was an interstate enterprise that involved evidence of a fighting ring or pit, drugs, gambling and the abuse and execution of losing pit dogs.

These activities not only tarnished the reputation of the entire team, it brought the seedy underworld of dog fighting to worldwide attention and revealed the moral turpitude of anybody involved in the bloodsport of Game Dogs, as the 'dogmen' themselves call it.

Over seventy dogs were seized from Vick’s property and while attempts at rehabilitation have been made for 22 of them, as documented by National Geographic’s Dogtown, it is virtually impossible to socialize a fighting dog to live in public society, particularly with children and other animals, namely other dogs.  All pit breeds have an innate, aggressive reaction to other dogs because this is what they’ve essentially been bred to do as far back as the days of bull and bear-baiting.  

Responsible breeders have done a really good job with the English Bull Terrier, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier and the ambling Old English Bulldog but as long as the criminal element exists that breeds dogs for fighting and to enhance their own testicular limitations, breeds like the American Pit Bull/Staffordshire Terrier, the American Bulldog and the American Red-Nosed Pitbull  remain problematic because they’re being bred to retain, if not increase, this fighting instinct. These dogs are unpredictable and potentially lethal weapons, but it is at the hands of unscrupulous people that this has been allowed to continue. 

Other breeds problematic in this sense, and even more dangerous because of their size, include the Japanese Tosa, Presa Canario, Fila Brasileiro and the Argentinian Dogo and these breeds are banned in the United Kingdom. I've met a Tosa, however it had a very guarded personality. A friend of mine has an Argentinian Dogo with the head the size of pumpkin, but he's a lovely, friendly boy. This in no way lessens how to view the so-called dangerous breeds but to get along with a particular breed and live safely with it, you need to know what that dog is bred for. 

The dog itself needs to understand its place in the hierarchy of its pack, the family, and the fighting dogs are deprived of even this; a fundamental abuse in my mind.  The dog needs to know where it fits in its pack and in the human one, that place is always at the bottom because if not, it will try and Alpha your ass.  I see this all the time and mostly with over-indulged smaller breeds; just because they're wee doesn't make them any less of a dog. In my mind, cocker spaniels seem to be bred for biting kids; every cocker I've ever met was a biter so with that being said, it's ALL dogs we need to be mindful of and never, EVER leave a child unsupervised with a dog. 

Away from my ramble/disclaimer and back to Michael Vick:

This escapade of his has cost him his career, millions of dollars in lost endorsements and a very palpable ‘scum’ that I doubt he can redeem himself from, but he’s going to try.  Vick is bankrupt and owes millions to creditors and so, as is the natural course to follow in this day and age, he has been having fireside chats in jail with producers for a reality show documenting him making the rounds of atonement once he’s released July 20^th. Supposed insiders have said the likeliest channels to run this self-serving kyfe on film are A&E or Spike TV.

This is horseshit my friends. Road apples on a platter. If Vick wants to do something that can in any way atone for his crime would be to try to reverse some of the damage done to the animals he harmed, and to the millions of young people that looked up to him and may have thought dog fighting is okay because their icon did it. Michael Vick should be in talks for a program, in conjunction with the ASPCA, truly acknowledging and atoning for his part in this criminal activity called ‘sport’ by some, and why it needs to be crushed.  A greater public service is totally what is called for here. 

I think in doing so, Vick could provide a more substantial demonstration on his part for truly acknowledging and addressing his crimes, rather than having a camera follow him around cap in hand, perhaps patting a few dogs on the head along the way, and squeezing out a tear or two.

There are investigative documentaries about dogfighting out there (I have viewed two and posted the links at the end of this piece for those who are interested) but they are so far off the map from what most people would encounter in their usual film and TV travels, that I think it would be beneficial for Vick to use his celebrity, and infamy, to bring the problem to a wider audience. He has to a degree but certainly not of his own volition. 

My 2 cents is that Vick feels no remorse for what he’s done to these animals.  The only remorse he feels is that he got caught and is now utterly broke with his reputation in the toilet.   This whole endeavour  is so blatant an attempt at cashing in, it’s probably the most honest he’s been or behaved in his life.  Despite what’s intended by incarceration, most run-of-the-mill felons don’t sit around in the penitentiary re-examining their lives or feeling remorse. They’re learning how to become better criminals from the other prisoners, they learn where they made their mistakes and how not to repeat the same thing ‘the next time.’  They’re sitting around thinking about how to make the most money with the least effort.  But then, I think Vick is a thug and has always operated that way. Consideration of the repair of his reputation, and how to make money doing it, has had 23 months of his undivided attention. Apparently it’s going to pay off, literally. 

Here are the video links I promised, and they do contain graphic footage just so readers are aware.  Both are from Google video:

Dogfighting Undercover a BBC special report.  The focus is on the undercover investigation of a large and well-known dogfighting ring in Northern Ireland and the relationship with a breeding kennel in Finland. The film shows too how these dogs are able to enter the UK via the Irish Republic with false paperwork.

Off the Chain - A PitBull Documentary from the U.S. featuring interviews with 'Dogmen' complete with balaclava-covered faces. Animal terrorists indeed...