Philadelphia – PSPCA Says Dogfighting Up Because of Michael Vick
Philadelphia – PSPCA Says Dogfighting Up Because of Michael Vick
By KYW’s Tony Hanson 3/5/10
Podcast on webpage – 10:55 minutes
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http://www.kyw1060.com/SPCA-Says-Dogfighting-Up-in-Phila–Because-of-Vick/6507085)
SPCA authorities say dogfighting in Philadelphia has gone up dramatically over the past year and the authorities cite a Michael Vick factor.
The number of animal fighting investigations, the vast majority of them dogfighting, has gone up from 237 in 2008 to over 800 last year – three to four times more. George Bengal, director of investigations for the SPCA, says some of the owner offenders have been drawn to the sport by an idol.
“Michael Vick in my view definitely enters into the equation. A lot of the younger generation looks up to him as an idol and they idolize him and try to mimic the things he had done, which is not good.”
Bengal doesn’t discount Vick’s public service work since his release from prison and the upside is the notoriety of the case has prompted the public to be more vigilant and report more suspicious activity leading to the discovery of more dogfighting operations.
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6 Responses to “Philadelphia – PSPCA Says Dogfighting Up Because of Michael Vick”
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Vick is disgusting, and kids trying to emulate him speaks of the poor quality parenting and lack of values in urban America. That said, I wonder if the numbers are up because of more dog fighting, or the numbers are up because of more reports. Now, if I drive through an urban area in DC and hear a dog barking for any reason, I have on hand on my phone ready to call the police thinking it could be one of Mike’s homies torturing some innocent dog. Before Vick, I would just think it was a one in a million chance. Now, probably 1 in 2.
What is the State of Pa. or Philadelphia doing to STOP THIS HEINOUS ACTIVITY?
it’s amazing the impact. In four months from Augst 19, the day Vick signed to the end of the year dogfighting quadrupled. There may have been an increase in reporting that attributed to this rather than an impact from a particular individual. I find it hard to believe that on August 19th people went out purchased, breed, and trained dogs to fight because one individual signed with a football team.
I suspect that reporting may have increased due to heavier scrutiny, but I would not dismiss the impact of a famous person who just got out of jail and received a $6.8 million contract even though he engaged in an illegal activity while working in the same job before. There are unfortunately going to be far too many kids at the same age Vick was when he started fighting dogs (I believe he said on his show that was about 12 years old with a few year break during his college years).
There are going to be a lot of at risk kids that will wonder, what is so cool about dog fighting that a star quarter back would try it?
That might be reinforced by Vick’s drug use, some teens might think, well Vick took drugs, and when I dabbled with drugs I did get high, so maybe if I go to a dog fight or raise a puppy to be tough and strong and scare away some of the thugs in my neighborhood when I walk down the street, maybe if I prove how tough my dog is in a ring . . . maybe Vick was on to something, afterall things worked out pretty damned good for Vick in the end, so what if he went to jail for a couple years, I know lots of people that go to jail and they don’t get million dollar deals before nor after let alone a tv show too.
…
just a hypothesis
I would agree that the statistic seems a little sensational and could very well be distorted by increased reporting, but at the same time, I do not see Michael Vick doing a whole lot to stop dog fighting, after all he sees his main job as trying to get his old tired body back in shape so he can play football, that doesn’t leave much time to go out there and try to stop an activity that he has been enticed into not just once for many years but twice for many years. He’s an addict. Addicts do not always make the best cases to stop doing the activity that they are addicted to, because they are still struggling to stop themselves every day.
That stat is absolutely sensational. Also I think you are putting to much into that. Show me one child who has stated publicly or otherwise that because a professional athlete is doing something illegal they are going to do it. So what do you say(personally) to these at risk kids and what are their parents doing? IF a child is looking up to professional athletes, movie stars, celebrities ect as people to guide their lifes then the parents are not doing their jobs.
Sure, its the parents fault. Nice easy cop out isn’t it. Its always easy to just blame the parents, who obviously have much more clout than an industry like the NFL or Hollywood.
Stupid parents should never have allowed their kids to turn on a tv, open a newspaper, look on Google News, watch CNN etc.
WTF is wrong with parents these days that they can’t get a message through to their kids when their are billions of dollars marketing contrary ideas to them 24/7.
Oh and lets not give the parents of at risk kids any slack either. Just because the kids are ‘at risk’ meaning they live in a very poor community, might come from broken homes or families etc that doesn’t mean that the parents aren’t 100% to blame even if they grew up in the same cycle themselves, its still the parents fault.
It couldn’t possibly be the fault of a predator that Michael Vick who wants to receive adoration so much that he would spend 6 years of his life and hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting dogs in front of people with the fewest defenses available.
Come on, you can do better than that! Its not the parents fault and you probably know that, but go ahead and puke up that tired defense all you like.
If anything Michael Vick is double guilty because he came from a broken home himself, he knew exactly the weaknesses of the kids, teens and young adults he was screwing over. He was acting more like a pimp in his criminal endeavor and definitely not like a Star. Should he have star status now, No. Then, No. Did he have it then, Yes. Does he have it now? Yes. Are local school principals helping him become a repeat offender?
I think they are and every single one of them should be ashamed.