John, not to seem as if we are ganging up on you, but if you take the time to read a few more articles, you will come accross this:

"The Humane Society of the United States has heard troubling reports for some time that Michael Vick has been involved in organized dog fighting, and we fear that this investigation may validate that very disturbing allegation," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. "We urge law enforcement to aggressively investigate this matter."

Meaning this POS with a ton of $ KNEW and was completely involved in what was discovered.

 Quote: Judy Troiano

Now if the owner were smart, he'd fly his ass back to whereever this house is, get every dog to a vet, pay for any surgeries needed, bend over backwards to find homes for those that are salvageable, give a sh*tload of money to animal shelters all across the state of Georgia and become a spokesperson speaking against animal cruelty.

Something tells me that will never happen.

Judy, you are totally right, that would pretty much be the only way he can get out of this and look a bit less of a dumba$$, but I don't think he's smart enough to do that.

There was a recent story on the Bronco's ex-QB, Jake Plummer where he walked into the Colo Humane Society and dropped off a donation check for $10K. Michael Vick should take lessons from him.

I never said that I thought that Vick should be "strung-up" or sent away, nor did I say that Vick should even be charged. I do believe that the individual(s) involved should be. If that leads to Vick being implicated and/or charged, so be it..

RIGHT ON JUDY!!!!!

John, You an Atlanta Fan??? Ha?

LAter guys

 Quote: adam dorn

I never said that I thought that Vick should be "strung-up" or sent away, nor did I say that Vick should even be charged. I do believe that the individual(s) involved should be. If that leads to Vick being implicated and/or charged, so be it..

RIGHT ON JUDY!!!!!

John, You an Atlanta Fan??? Ha?

LAter guys

Huh? Adam, I can't tell if you're cheering me on or wanting to smack me upside the head !

Since I am so confused , I'll add that I was posting to my buddy John Aiton (who I like and respect a great deal). But I guess I felt maybe John needed to be smacked upside the head for giving this ass of an athelete Vick one second of consideration that he may be innocent.

PETA is right in asking for him to be terminated. Athletes in this country are admired by almost all children. They are supposed to be role models and, as such, should be held - I don't dare say to a higher standard because that is asking too much (eye roll) - to a standard that, at the very least, could represent to children that he really is the hero children automatically assume him to be.

Here's an idea:

If law enforcement finds a situation like this, i.e., numerous fighting breed dogs housed together with obvious injuries that suggest dog fighting, have the dogs confiscated. Along with the house and property that the dogs were on. Sound extreme? Well take the example of out-of-season poaching.........they fixed that by aggressive enforcement.

They do this type of enforcement for illegal hunting - you get caught hunting out of season, they confiscate the game meat, your firearm, and your car. It made for a sharp decrease in poaching, let me tell ya.
It'd work great against the idiot dog fighters also. And this is in place in many states currently.

If your renters were running an illegal dog fighting group from out of your rental house - *you* lose your house. That would make landlords pay a bit more attention to their properties, I'll bet.
I'd also be in favor of significant rewards to alert law enforcement about dog fighters. That'd help a bit.

And as far as Vick. He knew. Don't kid yourself about it.

I wouldn't put it past him not to have known, It takes a lot to get the neurons in his brain firing I think, too much THC gumming everything up.

Anyway, I agree the enforcement has to really get tougher. Some of you from WI may remember the former cop near madison that was caught and prosecuted on Drug (cocaine) and animal charges. They confiscated over 40 dogs I believe, some missing limbs, scarred etc. This wasn't the first time either. He was caught a few years ago as well, fighting dogs and dealing drugs.

Here he was a few years later in the same situation. How was he able to get dogs again?? and the big kicker at the end of his trial, most of the dogs were put down I think, but they ordered that 9 of the dogs be returned???? WTF? how can that happen. I think they were supposed to be given back to his wife, but still< I doin't get it. I guess the Humane Society that was housing the dogs during the trial ended up BUYING the dogs back from them for 9K. Talk about needing to up the penalties for these dirt bags. What's more cowardly than watching dogs fight for entertainment?

 Quote: Judy Troiano

PETA is right in asking for him to be terminated. Athletes in this country are admired by almost all children. They are supposed to be role models and, as such, should be held - I don't dare say to a higher standard because that is asking too much (eye roll) - to a standard that, at the very least, could represent to children that he really is the hero children automatically assume him to be.

Yes Judy, I agree with you 100%. Kid's can relate so easy to these guys and look up to them. It's sad to let losers like this get away with stuff as harsh as dog fighting.

Here is another sad note:
Just this week, Vick came under more criticism when he failed to show for a lobbying appearance on Capitol Hill in support of increased funding for after-school programs. He missed a connecting flight in Atlanta and didn't turn up for a later flight.

Vick and two other former Virginia Tech stars -- Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall and former Buffalo Bills defensive end Bruce Smith -- are scheduled to join Hokies football coach Frank Beamer and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a pre-draft ceremony in New York on April 28 to honor the victims of the recent shooting at the Blacksburg school.

They should absolutely NOT let him be part of this ceremony. How embarrasing for the families of the victims.

Hi Judy,

Well you sure kicked my ass all over the park :-P

Allow me to respond my good friend :-)

 Quote: judy troiano

John, I have to strongly disagree with you here. The article says that the dogs were housed in buildings on the property behind the house, that there were "truckloads" of evidence and upwards of 60 dogs bearing scars and evidence of starvation.

Yep read that bit and agree that this looks VERY bad! I know I don't have to tell you this but I'll say it anyway.

In no way was I attempting to defend or pass blame for this around or away from the sportsman, just trying to highlight that it is possible he knew nothing about it, although from other comments on this post it is becoming increasingly unlikely (I've only read one article related to this so only have the info as posted in that) and if he has in fact been party to this on previous occasions then I'd just shoot the bastard.

However, I'm always careful about judging people who are in the news "accused" of something (in this case Vic wasn't even accused or part of the investigation when I read that article), particularly when it comes to celebrities as the press are great at brining out half truths and blowing a story up to sensationalize what actually happened.

Many a time what you read is nowhere near what actually went on!

 Quote:

Do you have teenagers? A common occurance with teenagers is drinking alcohol at parties. I have a fully stocked bar in my house and none of the alcohol is under lock and key. What if I left for some period of time and allowed my niece to live there while I'm gone. Suppose she decides to have a party and invites the "neighborhood" which includes teenagers. If any one of those teenagers drinks at my house, I am liable. Even if they don't touch my liquor but bring their own. Things get uglier if they leave drunk and crash the car while enroute from my house - the house that provided the alcohol. The law does not give a rat's ass that I was in Tahiti sitting on my ass eating bon bons.

You raise a good point here Judy and I agree in the example given that responsibility is the homeowners. However, I was talking more from the point of view of a landlord, which I just assumed to be the case here as there was no other evidence in the article posted to the contrary.

If I were letting a house to someone it would probably be done via an agent of some kind who looks after the property on my behalf. Am I still responsible for anything that happens on what is essentially my property? e.g. a murder god forbid? Do I go to jail for murder or manslaughter just because it was carried out on my property?

A pretty extreme example I'll agree but you take my point.

There are lots of different angles you can look at this from and all would have valid arguments as to why responsibility lies in a certain place whether that be the householder/homeowner or the offender.

I think it would be very unfair for your house to be taken away if your kids friends decided one day you were at work that they'd see how funny it was to have some of the neighbourhood dogs go at each other and get caught in the act by the cops.

It's all down to interpretation and I can say for one that I don't trust a jury of my "peers" to get it right (some of the people used on jury's here are the dumbest we have to offer so what chance would you have in a truly complicated case?).

 Quote:

Playing the "duh, I didn't know nuthin'" card is, well, tuff sh*t buddy - you should have! Ignorance of the law is, thankfully, not a strategy that is employed with any success.

Couldn't agree more but no matter how much we dislike the idea there could always be mitigating circumstances that proves "innocence?".

All the best

John