The Slackmistress Says It Better

Nina Bargiel, aka slackmistress of The Slack Daily, has written a post on Michael Vick that pretty much sums up how I feel. Here is a repost.

On Michael Vick.

Michael Vick was released into house arrest yesterday, after serving 18 months in a Federal Prison. Unless you've been living under a rock - and a big one at that - you'll know that he was sent there for dogfighting charges. Most of the dogs were killed - either in the ring or at the hands of Vick and his cohorts. The ones that were lucky enough to make it out alive found their way into the very few (and I stress very few) rescues that had the skills and resources available to rehab a fighting dog.

As you can see, most of the Vick dogs - dogs that had been abused, beaten, starved, and fought - are now family pets, therapy dogs, and canine ambassadors. You can what happened to them here.

But what about Michael Vick? The ex-quarterback will be on house arrest for two months, missing out on the 2009 season. While still on suspension, he can petition to be reinstated to the NFL in 2010.

One can argue a million-dollar home in Norfolk, VA isn't exactly punishment, but the reality is Vick has served his sentence. As Jason Smith, the talk radio jock who hosts All Night With Jason Smith, said last night on his show, do not confuse that with paying his debt to society.

Unlike the dogs that survived his wrath, here's no indication that Vick has been rehabbed. There's talks that he might do a series of PSA with the Humane Society or PeTA (which is ironic since PeTA wants to kill pit bulls dead <-- note that this link includes some ugly images) but that's more about rehabbing Vick's image. He's a PR nightmare, but he's a PR nightmare who has played professional football, which means that there might be a team out there desperate enough to sign him.

I've seen plenty of images of dogs who were used as fighters, of dogs that were used as bait. You don't need to take a class in ethics to know that dogfighting is wrong. You just need a single shred of humanity.

However, we do have a legal system in this country, and no matter what you think of it, when he's done with house arrest Vick will have served his sentence. The NFL has every right to reinstate Vick for 2010. But more so than any PSA, than any post-prison interview, than any in-depth feature in ESPN magazine, the NFL has a chance to show current and future players who break the law - especially in such a cruel and tortuous way - will not be tolerated.

If you feel the same way, please email or call NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and ask him to not reinstate Michael Vick:

Roger.Goodell2@nfl.net
Telephone #: 1-212-450-2000 or (212) 450-2027

On twitter: @nflcommish

I understand that there are other NFL players who have done terrible things and continue to play. This is not to say that I think that I think one thing is worse than the other, or that those crimes committed do not warrant the same judgment. But as a pit bull owner and a football fan, this one strikes close to home.

Respectfully,

Nina Bargiel
the slackmistress

It's a match made in... prison, apparently

Hi, how ya doing? Yeah, it's a new post, which means that something sparked my interest and ire enough to pull me away from work and studying and bitching on Facebook.

That something was the news that Michael Vick will be working with the Humane Society when he is released from prison. From CNN:

Vick will work on programs aimed at preventing youths from getting involved in dogfighting, and also on programs aimed at assisting youths who have been involved.

Ok. I really don't know how to feel about this. If you read my blog regularly or know me at all, you understand that I'm pretty passionate about animal rights, particularly animal abuse and neglect. And even more particularly, the abuse and exploitation of pit bulls and other bully breeds. We all have our hot button issues and this is one of my biggest.

Here's why I'm torn. I work in nonprofit advocacy and I know that personal stories from people who have actually dealt with a specific problem are effective outreach and education tools. But my first thought when I read this story about Vick and the Humane Society was that this is like having someone who has been convicted of child abuse go educate people about not abusing children right after they get out of prison. No, I am not suggesting that they are equatable - but abuse and cruelty are about victimization and lack of empathy, no matter who or what the victim is.

It doesn't sit right with me. I don't know if Vick will be able to convince anyone not to get involved with dog fighting or not to abuse, torture, and kill dogs. I admit to being very biased, but I just don't think Vick is at all concerned about preventing animal cruelty and exploitation. I think he's broke and needs to repair his image so he can play football again.

Go Orange! Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month

Not Goodbye

I've finally had to admit defeat in my commitment to blogging. I also must confess that - right now, at least - I care more about reading blogs than writing one and I don't have time for both.

I like reading your blogs. I like reading what smart, funny, snarky people write. I started this blogging thing because I had a lot of anger and frustration to express. I'm still angry, but with Chimpy and Company gone I just don't have as much. Yes, there are still a million travesties and tragedies happening in the world that make me scream. For the moment, I'm content to deal with it the same way I did before I started blogging.

I'm not closing the blog and I'll still post when I feel inspired. I started doing this for me and I'll keep it that way, but I hope you'll still drop by and comment. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who started coming here and commenting from the very beginning, to those of you who stayed and became friends, to those of you who came and went along the way, to those of you who lurk. I'm not going away and I hope you won't either.

Good Dog!

There has been renewed interest in my area of introducing BSL (Breed Specific Legislation). BSL varies, but most of these laws make the adoption, sale, ownership, and breeding of so-called "dangerous" dog breeds illegal. While I'm against breeding because there is such a ready supply of homeless animals in this country, I think that BSL is misguided, reactionary, cruel, and does nothing to address the issue of dangerous animals. BSL most often targets bully breeds such as American Staffordshire Terriers, American Bulldogs, American Pitbull Terriers, and Bull Terriers. The dogs are vilified and portrayed as vicious man-eaters, despite their consistently high scores on temperament tests. From Pit Bull Rescue Central:

To date, every shred of empirical evidence we have suggests that pit bulls are the same as, if not better than, other breeds when it comes to human interaction. Each year, the American Temperament Testing Society holds evaluations across the country for dog breeds and gives a passing score for the entire breed based on the percentage of passed over failed within total number of the particular breed tested. As of 2008, pit bull breeds achieved a combined passing score of 85.5 percent. To put these figures into context, the combined passing rate of all breeds was 81.6 percent. The Collie, an icon of obedience, passed at a rate of 79.4 percent, and the beloved Golden Retriever scored at 84.2 percent.

I've written before about the dogs rescued from convicted dogfighting perpetrator Michael Vick, so I won't get into that. Wonderful organizations such as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and BAD RAP have worked very hard to rehabilitate and adopt out these dogs. The Vick Dog Blog follows the successes of some of the dogs. Today I read a story (h/t Vick Dog Blog) about one of them becoming a therapy dog at a nursing home. Hector, with his fighting scars and huge maw of a mouth, is also a Canine Good Citizen. That's a picture of him above.

I have several "bully" dogs and wherever I take them, I get questions and sometimes a lot of glares or fearful looks. I feel like my dogs and I have to constantly prove ourselves. A lot of pressure has been put on the people who have adopted the Vick dogs - if even one of the dogs ends up coming close to hurting somebody, the BSL proponents will go on the warpath. Hector is doing a fine job of proving those people wrong. If BSL is being proposed in your area, please learn more and take action to stop it.

Can someone please tell me...

... why the Obama administration has not drafted Paul Krugman to be on their team of official economic advisers? Maybe it's just me, but I think Krugman is a genius (and not just because of his Nobel!) and one of the only economic experts whose analysis is sensible and whose solutions may actually have a chance of, you know, FIXING THIS FUCKING MESS!

Just my $.02 - which is more like $.0002 in terms of actual worth now.

Republican Fvcktard Strategerwhatsit

Republicans are bravely marching forward into untouched and unknown lands of fucktardedness. The heights of asshattery that they are now reaching are impressive indeed. Since President Obama took office, Republicans have:

Rolled out a bold plan for dealing with the economic crisis by setting the lofty goal of complete failure.

Adopted new initiatives focused on drastically increasing the level of hypocrisy and bullshit among Republican members of Congress.

Announced plans for attracting a younger audience by getting hip to 1990s culture.

Developed a sense of humor about terrorism - hey, Chicago should have kept Obama to themselves if they don't like the attention.

Displayed an amazing natural talent for irony and self parody.

Revealed secret powers of prophecy... or secret plans to inspire patriotism in all Americans by advocating for domestic terrorism. Maybe all of the above.

Here are my thoughts on the Republicans. No, they are not crazy and they are not stupid. Well, they are... but not for their strategy. They remember that the way they came to power last time was by getting all the whacked-out wingnuts whipped up into a frenzy of apocalyptic, bigoted paranoia. They need to get their base motivated and who better to do that than Rush? Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. Right now, I don't think most people are going to fall for this shit. Who wants to listen to Rush mock and whine and bitch about socialism this and Magic Negro that when you're just worried about finding or keeping a job and making the next mortgage payment?