Michael Vick Indicted

Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons and "Bad Newz Kennels" has been indicted on charges of "sponsoring a dogfighting operation so grisly the losers either died in the pit or sometimes were electrocuted, drowned, hanged or shot." In one incident when "a Bad Newz Kennels dog was wounded in a losing fight, NFL star Michael Vick was consulted before the animal was doused with water and electrocuted."

This is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that we have animal cruelty laws that actually work (I don’t think they do). The cruelty is implicit in the dogfighting law. So we have a law for it (against it, really), and there appears to be plenty of evidence. Let’s see if this egregious case is able to yield an actual conviction, jail time, and fines. Let’s see if the system works. And let’s see if Vick, Purnell A. Peace, 35, of Virginia Beach; Quanis L. Phillips, 28, of Atlanta; and Tony Taylor, 34, of Hampton are punished for brutally abusing dogs, intentionally (and for profit). They face up to six years in prison and $350,000 in fines and restitution (to whom, I wonder?). The charges are competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting and conducting the enterprise across state lines.

As Professor Gary Francione recently discussed, anticruelty laws are a failure for nonhuman animals produced and slaughtered for food. Let’s see if they’re equally impotent regarding companion animals: the only nonhumans most people care about. If the law doesn’t work for them, it’s not likely to work for anybody.