Free Republic

Beloved cartoonist Berkeley Breathed had an unusual inspiration for his latest children's book, "Flawed Dogs." No it wasn't one of the Santa Barbaran's many rescued pit bulls, but it was one of Michael Vick's infamous dogs who was set to be put down. "The book happened because I came across both a picture and a quote at about the same time -- a picture of one of Michael Vick's fight dogs. It was set to be put down, but a shelter in Utah decided to take the dog and a few others at the same time and try to rehabilitate...

An international animal-protection group says the NFL should add dogfighting and cockfighting to its list of banned activities. Dogfighting is a crime in all 50 states and cockfighting is illegal in 48 states. In Defense of Animals has sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asking him to add both activities to the "criminal offense" section of the league's Personal Conduct Policy.

On the first Tuesday of October, the second day of its new session, the Supreme Court will take up the case of a dog lover whose bloody pit bull fighting videos have raised questions on whether free speech protects the sale of horrific scenes of animal cruelty. ~snip~ The case has made some strange allies. The New York Times joined other media organizations and publishing groups to write a brief to the Court supporting Stevens' case. The paper is concerned the animal cruelty law is so broadly written that it "imperils the media's ability" to report on animal issues. Also...

Cook County Sheriff's police have arrested three people allegedly involved in a dogfighting ring based at a home that also serves as a day-care facility in west suburban Maywood. The sheriff's department Animal Crimes Unit found a dog with its eye ripped out, a dog with a leg twisted backward and a dog with its lower extremities nearly ripped off during a Tuesday raid, according to a release. Nine dogs were undergoing surgery and rehabilitation Wednesday. The gruesome scene at three Maywood homes was made even more harrowing by the presence of a licensed day-care operation, Sheriff Tom Dart stated...

Michael Vick's dog fighting was hideous, but what would you say to a blood sport that features animal combatants that are subjected to electrocution, burning and near drowning? Even more amazing, contestants fighting their animals are as young as 12! NOTE: The author of this comic requests that you visit his web site and please refrain from copying the comic within this thread. Thanks a bunch!

Disgraced quarterback Michael Vick declared Sunday that he really "cares" about animals. He says he wept in disgust over his own cruelty to animals while serving time for running a bloody dogfighting ring. And yes, he also found God in prison. Treading the well-worn path of career revival, Vick went on CBS' "60 Minutes" pledging to devote himself to teaching kids from poor backgrounds to be kind to animals. "When I was in prison, I was disgusted, you know, because of what I let happen to those animals. I could've put a stop to it," he said. "And that was...

Michael Vic has been signed by the Philadelphia Eagles.

The U.S. Supreme Court today announced it will review the case of a Virginia man whose federal conviction in Pittsburgh for selling dog-fighting videos was overturned by an appeals court. Robert J. Stevens of Pittsville, Va., in 2005 became the first defendant ever convicted of a 1999 law prohibiting the sale of materials depicting animal cruelty. Some of the videos showed pit bulls fighting one another as well as attacking hogs.

The Supreme Court agreed today to take up an unusual free-speech case to decide whether the government can make it a crime to sell or own videos portraying dog fighting or other acts of animal cruelty. All 50 states have laws against animal cruelty, and a decade ago, Congress made it illegal to sell or possess photos or videos of animals being maimed, mutilated, tortured, wounded or killed. The aim was to combat an underground trade in videos that showed dogs fighting or mauling other animals. The law included exceptions for depictions with serious religious, scientific or artistic value. Last...

"While she was an officer with the Omaha Police Department, Abbie Cornett would occasionally run across the remnants of a dogfighting operation and the various items used to run it."

Former NFL star quarterback Michael Vick has pleaded guilty to a state dogfighting charge in Virginia in a bid to make him eligible for early release from jail.

When football superstar Michael Vick pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to run a dogfighting operation, we knew he had kept about 50 pit bulls on his 15-acre property in rural Surry County. We knew the dogs were chained to car axles near wooden hovels for shelter. And we knew the dogs that didn't fight were beaten, shot, hanged, electrocuted or drowned. But we didn't know their names. Headlines described the nameless dogs as "menacing." Some animal rights groups called for the "ticking time bombs" to be euthanized as soon as Vick's case was closed and they were no longer...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide bombing at an outdoor dog fighting competition killed 80 people and wounded scores more Sunday, a governor said, in what appeared to be the deadliest terror attack in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Officials said the attack apparently targeted a prominent militia commander who had stood up against the Taliban. He died in the attack. Several hundred people — including Afghan militia leaders — had gathered to watch the event on the western edge of the southern city of Kandahar. Witnesses reported gunfire from bodyguards after the blast; it was not...

(Jan. 27) - His back resting comfortably against her chest, Hector nestles his massive canine head into Leslie Nuccio's shoulder, high-fiving pit bull paws against human hands. The big dog - 52 pounds - is social, people-focused, happy now, it seems, wearing a rhinestone collar in his new home in sunny California. But as Hector sits up, deep scars stand out on his chest, and his eyes are imploring. "I wish he could let us know what happened to him," says Nuccio, the big tan dog's foster mother. Hector ought to be dead, she knows - killed in one of...

NORFOLK, Va. - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has created a holiday e-card featuring former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who is serving a 23-month federal sentence for a dogfighting conspiracy. Vick and three co-defendants raised pit bulls and trained them for fighting at a house Vick owned in rural Surry County. Several dogs that didn’t perform well in test fights were executed. In the card, a cartoon version of Vick paces across a prison yard inside a snow globe as gun-toting guards and their barking dogs keep watch. He’s wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and football helmet...

Five Atlanta Falcons players have been fined a total of $47,500 by the NFL for uniform violations that stemmed from demonstrations of their support for banished quarterback Michael Vick during the team's loss to the New Orleans Saints on Dec. 10. Several hours before the game, Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for his role in an illegal dogfighting ring that was centered on property he owned in Virginia. Cornerbacks DeAngelo Hall and Chris Houston, wide receiver Roddy White and tight end Alge Crumpler each were fined $10,000. Wide receiver Joe Horn was fined $7,500. It is not...

RICHMOND, Va. — Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison Monday for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy that involved gambling and killing pit bulls. The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback could have been sentenced up to five years by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson. Vick, who turned himself in Nov. 19 in anticipation of his sentence, was wearing a black-and-white striped prison suit. After Vick apologized to the court and his family, Hudson told him: "You need to apologize to the millions of young people who looked up to you." "Yes, sir," Vick answered. Vick acknowledged he...

Vick given a 23 month sentence. Plus 3 years of probation. Breaking.

SUSSEX, Va. (AP) - Michael Vick and three co-defendants were indicted by a grand jury Tuesday on state charges related to a dogfighting ring operated on Vick's Virginia property. Vick, who already pleaded guilty in federal court to a dogfighting conspiracy charge and is awaiting sentencing on Dec. 10, was indicted for beating or killing or causing dogs to fight other dogs and engaging in or promoting dogfighting. The grand jury passed on indicting the Atlanta Falcons quarterback and two co-defendants on eight counts of animal cruelty, which would have exposed them to as many as 40 years in prison...

Federal investigators are looking into connections between trained fighting dogs bred by a man found shot to death in rural North Carolina and the dogfighting operation headed by suspended NFL quarterback Michael Vick. The sheriff investigating the North Carolina killing said he plans to pursue links between the dogfighting groups to see if they can answer any questions in the unsolved homicide. But for now, federal investigators are the ones searching the shooting victim's records for more evidence that might implicate Vick and other members of Bad Newz Kennels in interstate dogfighting, the sheriff said. (snip) "Everybody we've talked to...

After long search, football star finds Jesus “hangin’ out” in courthouse restroom Michael Vick trades up! RICHMOND, VA – They say all dogs go to heaven. Well, after punching more than his share of canine tickets to paradise, Michael Vick seems to have finally found a little salvation for himself. After pleading guilty to federal dogfighting charges last month, the world heard Michael Vick proclaim his newfound faith in Christ. “I found Jesus,” Vick told reporters outside the courthouse. “And turned my life over to God.” What most people don’t know is that Vick had actually been looking for Jesus...

Michael Cook | Friday, 31 August 2007 The crimes of Michael Vick When dogs die in Virginia, there's a media frenzy. When patients die in New Orleans, there's silence. NFL quarterback Michael Vick faces 12 to 18 months in jail and the ruin of his brilliant career with the Atlanta Falcons -- for killing six or eight pit bulls and running a dogfighting operation in Virginia. "Barbaric". "Reprehensible". "Odious". The media was outraged. Even a remorseful Michael Vick sniffled that it was "a terrible thing". The leading animal rights groups, the Humane Society and People for the Ethical Treatment...

As someone who once lived in the heart of Newport News, Va., and, in fact, in Michael Vick's school district, I was amused to hear Whoopi Goldberg's assessment that dogfighting is endemic to the Deep South and the sophisticates of our urban jungles do not understand. Vick's supporters sometimes appear to want it both ways. One day he is from the mean streets of Newport News and the next day he is from the Deep South. I happened to live on one of those mean streets of Newport News, and not once did I ever have to dodge bullets after...

Dear Ms. Whoopi Goldberg, don't tell me that torturing animals (dog-fighting) -- "hanging, drowning, and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground" -- is an integral part of Southerners' "cultural upbringing." I've lived in the Deep South for about 5 years, visited family there many times, and vacationed there more times than I can remember. My experiences? Good, decent people, and beautiful cities, countryside, and beaches. So how did this dog-fighting controversy get started? Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was busted red-handed running a chamber of horrors for canines. Not only was he fighting dogs, but torturing them...

NEW YORK -- Whoopi Goldberg started her stint on ABC's "The View" Tuesday by coming to the defense of convicted felon Michael Vick. Just 15 minutes into the show she brought up Vick's conviction on dogfighting charges. "You know from his background this is not an unusual thing for where he comes from," said Goldberg. "There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of our country." Co-host Joy Behar seemed shocked at Goldberg's statements. "How about dog torture and dog murdering," Behar asked.

Taxpayers spared hit from Michael Vick's dogfighting misdeeds BY CHRISTIAN REDDAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERSaturday, September 1st 2007, 7:41 PM John Goodwin, the deputy manager for animal cruelty issues for The Humane Society of the United States, says that another negative fallout from dogfighting cases is that "the taxpayer gets hit" with the costs of housing and caring for the animals."That's one more cost of the (Michael) Vick case and these cases," says Goodwin. "These animal-control centers are municipal buildings funded by the government, so the taxpayer gets hit as a result."In the case of Vick, the disgraced Atlanta Falcons...

USC running backs coach Todd McNair, a former NFL player who is in his fourth season with the Trojans, was twice convicted on charges related to mistreatment of dogs in the 1990s, according to reports. "I really don't want to comment on something 14 years ago, and especially something I was cleared for," McNair said Tuesday night. McNair was never convicted of dogfighting. Coach Pete Carroll said he became aware of the incidents about a week ago and addressed them with McNair. The incidents came to light again on the website BruinsNation.com. "We looked into it to make sure we...

USC assistant football coach Todd McNair said Wednesday that reports detailing his two 1990s convictions for mistreating dogs did not "accurately portray" what actually happened. "I understand the interest about the thing in light of all that's gone on in Virginia with the [Michael] Vick case and everything," he said in an interview outside USC's Heritage Hall. "But my case was totally different from that. . . . I was cited for neglect. I wasn't convicted for abuse." McNair, who is about to begin his fourth season as the Trojans' running backs coach, was charged with cruelty to animals, failure...

A Boston judge sentences a man to probation and home confinement after his admission that he abducted and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy. A Nebraska judge sentences a convicted sex offender to probation and electronic monitoring because she fears for the mentally impaired man"s safety in prison. A Vermont judge sentences a child molester to 60 days in jail in order to facilitate his prompt treatment. Justice is hardly blind, if only because it is meted out by the colossal imperfection known as the human. And judges are as human as the person who comes to your home to fix...

Michael Vick was always something of an Allen Iverson for Atlanta. Without him, the team is terrible, and with him, the team can never be great. He’s a wonderful athlete who dominates little more than the highlight reel. Truth be told, I seriously doubt the Falcons would have ever succeeded with Vick at the helm. As far as I’m concerned, the dog-fighting scandal was one of the best things that could have happened to the Falcons. They had to get rid of him somehow, even if they didn’t want to accept it. Michael Vick had a special appeal with the...

Dog fighting case unmasks fixers' of US sport By Tim Shipman in Washington, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 1:42am BST 26/08/2007 When American football star Michael Vick enters a guilty plea in a Virginia courtroom tomorrow on dog fighting charges, he will not be the only one facing judgment. Michael Vick arrives at court in Virginia last month The disgrace of one of the sport's most exciting young players - who plays for the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League (NFL) - has drawn attention to what critics say is a culture of criminality and cover-up in US professional sport....

In a June 2000 photo shoot for a story in SI's College Preview issue, Vick was photographed with his pit bull Champagne. Read enough legal documents -- indictments, subpoenas, lawsuits -- and you begin to think of some lawyers as artists. They can write a sentence that appears simple, its point obvious, but if you read it again and again the meaning changes. It becomes more like poetry than legalese, everything subject to your own interpretation. The statement of fact filed Friday in a federal courthouse in Richmond, Va., as part of the plea agreement for Falcons quarterback Michael Vick,...

For all the big words and life lessons Roger Goodell included in his booming reaction to Michael Vick's admission of involvement in dogfighting, the NFL commissioner's message seemingly could have been whittled to two words: Nice try. Goodell suspended the Atlanta Falcons quarterback indefinitely without pay Friday, just hours after Vick filed a plea agreement that portrayed him as less involved than three co-defendants and guilty mainly of poor judgment for associating with them.

Atlanta Falcons Quarterback To Plead Guilty To Lesser Charges (CBS News) RICHMOND, Va. The National Football league has suspended Michael Vick indefinitely after he pleaded guilty to charges related to dogfighting on Friday. Vick filed his plea agreement in federal court Friday admitting to conspiracy in a dogfighting ring and helping kill pit bulls. He denied ever betting on the fights, only bankrolling them. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback is scheduled to formally enter his plea Monday in U.S. District Court. He signed the plea agreement Thursday. "Most of the Bad Newz Kennels operation and gambling monies were provided by Vick,"...

Deputies with the Maricopa County sheriff's office raided the Cave Creek, Arizona, home of rapper DMX on Friday morning (August 24), and according to a police spokesperson, 12 pit bulls were removed from the residence, all in bad condition. Police would not get into specifics but did say the animals are being tended to by veterinarians. At this point, DMX (real name: Earl Simmons) has not been officially charged with any crime, but police are still investigating. DMX was not at his home at the time of the raid, during which police also discovered a large cache of weapons. Police...

Hounding Vick While ranting about NFL quarterback Michael Vick for his alleged dog fighting activities, CNN talker Nancy Grace added another charge to her brilliant "legal" brief: Vick's been rapin' on the bitches. By that she meant inseminating bitches that "refused" to breed. The exact crazy quote has Grace say the following to her equally indignant guest: "You left out the rape stand, where female dogs that don't want to breed are raped, essentially." In Graceland, canines must consent before being bred, or is it "having sex." Nancy didn't indicate whether she was as passionate about the "violations" visited upon...

Vick signs plea deal in federal dogfighting case By DAVE FORSTER, The Virginian-Pilot © August 24, 2007 | Last updated 1:38 PM Aug. 24 Michael Vick has agreed in a plea deal with federal prosecutors that he supported a dogfighting enterprise from 2001 to 2007 and that he provided most of the gambling money that his co-defendants used to bet on matches, according to a signed summary of facts released today in the case. Vick is scheduled to plead guilty on Monday in U.S. District Court in Richmond to one felony count of conspiracy that is punishable by up to...

Michael Vick's father said he asked his son to give up dogfighting, or to at least put property used in the venture in the names of others to avoid being implicated, according to a report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Michael Boddie, who is estranged from Vick and the quarterback's mother, also said some time around 2001 his son staged dogfights in the garage of the family home in Newport News, Va. Boddie told the newspaper Vick kept fighting dogs in the family's backyard, including dogs that were ``bit up, chewed up, exhausted.'' Boddie claimed to have nursed the dogs back...

www.capitalnews9.com Animal advocate bites back after Marbury comments on Michael VickUpdated: 8/21/2007 9:22:43 AMBy: Britt Godshalk "I was pretty disappointed," Mohawk & Hudson River Humane Society Executive Director Brad Shear said after hearing comments New York Knick Stephon Marbury made just after Michael Vick's plea deal on federal dog fighting charges. While promoting his own basketball shoe Monday, Marbury spoke on the situation.He said, "I think it's tough. I think, you know, we don't say anything about people who shoot deer or shoot other animals. You know, from what I hear, dog fighting is a sport. It's just behind closed...

rue to our American ideals, reaction to Michael Vick’s involvement in dog fighting has touched every conceivable emotion. NBA guard Stephon Marbury had a novel interpretation. He called dog-fighting a sport and compared it to deer hunting. His comments immediately became fodder for every talk-show on the map. Talking-heads everywhere have reacted as if Marbury just flew in from Mars. I would rather give Marbury the benefit of the doubt and stop the latest round of moral outrage. The product of an inner-city, east-coast upbringing, Marbury’s life experiences are vastly different from those who grew up in a deer-hunting culture....

It's been a hoot reading and listening to pundits and armchair legal analysts speculate on the fate awaiting Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick on charges of illegal dogfighting. First the easy part: You can expect Vick to be handed a harsher sentence than the one year being bandied about by some observers. The judge has already said the acts described by Vick's co-conspirators suggest "aggravating" circumstances. Often that means a sentence more harsh than lenient. With Vick as the major, if not only, source of funding for the operation, it's likely the judge will view him as the ringleader of...

Warning! Graphic Images Repeated from two weeks ago because of Vick taking the plea deal Liberals Demand Tough New Laws to Protect All Animals … Buy Only Animals by Ricky Acuchillador Gee, all segments total, self-righteous liberal America were outraged by Michael Vick’s admittance of guilt for interstate trafficking of fighting dogs, which included hanging eight, and ripping others alive limb by limb. How about asking them what they think of unborn Humans?Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama, along with Suzie Drempt, executive vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, appeared on the Glitzer Hoof program...

RICHMOND, Va. -- Michael Vick agreed Monday to plead guilty to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges, a deal that leaves the Atlanta Falcons quarterback facing up to 18 months in prison and puts his NFL career in jeopardy. Under the plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend Vick be sentenced to between a year and 18 months in prison, according to a government official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the terms have not yet been made final. That would be a higher penalty than is usually recommended for first-time convicts, and reflects an attempt by the government...

RICHMOND, Va. -- Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick accepted a plea deal Monday to avoid additional federal charges in a dogfighting case and now faces a likely lengthy prison sentence. "After consulting with his family over the weekend, Michael Vick has asked that I announce today that he has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors regarding charges pending against him," Billy Martin, one of Vick's attorneys, said in a statement. "Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made. Michael wishes to...

The Michael Vick Experience used to be a commercial, with the scrambling quarterback's exploits turned into an imaginary thrill ride at an amusement park. "Welcome to my ride," said Vick in the Nike spot. He then gave a babble of instructions, including "Buckle your chin strap," to riders in a roller-coaster chair. It was going to be a rough ride. Now the Michael Vick Experience seems abhorrent. He has become to many fans the symbol of the pathology of modern pro athletes. They are rich men who are, like the name of the kennels Vick is alleged to have financed,...

RICHMOND, Va. - It's up to Michael Vick now. His last two co-defendants pleaded guilty Friday and implicated Vick in bankrolling gambling on dogfights. One of them said the Atlanta Falcons quarterback helped drown or hang dogs that didn't do well. With his NFL career in jeopardy and a superseding indictment adding more charges in the works, that left Vick with a hard choice: Cutting his own deal to hold jail time under a year or go to trial and sit through detailed descriptions of the ghastly operation known as "Bad Newz Kennels."Quanis Phillips of Atlanta and Purnell Peace of...

RICHMOND, Va. -- There was no word Friday morning on whether Michael Vick had agreed to a plea agreement with federal prosecutors -- or whether the embattled Atlanta Falcons quarterback would take on the federal government in a jury trial on dogfighting charges. Vick, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, was widely reported to be considering a deal. His attorneys were still negotiating with federal prosecutors as of Thursday, hoping to strike a deal on a plea agreement, a lawyer familiar with the case told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. A report in The...

GREENSBORO, N.C. — An animal shelter may have to euthanize healthy, adoptable dogs because it must care for 15 pit bulls seized from the property of a man charged with dogfighting and animal cruelty.

Vick offered plea deal recommending at least a year in prison By DAVE FORSTER , The Virginian-Pilot © August 16, 2007 Federal prosecutors have offered Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick a plea deal that would recommend he serve at least one year in prison on a felony dogfighting conspiracy charge, according to two sources familiar with the discussions. Vick has until 9 a.m. Friday to accept the offer or he could face additional charges when a grand jury convenes next week in U.S. District Court in Richmond, one of the sources said. At least two of Vick's attorneys have been...

With two more co-defendants distancing themselves from Michael Vick, the embattled Falcons quarterback was considering on Monday whether to accept a plea agreement for his alleged role in a dogfighting operation. Sources told ESPN's Kelly Naqi that Vick attorneys Larry Woodward and Billy Martin met with federal prosecutor Michael Gill and the investigators on Monday afternoon. The attorneys planned to speak with the quarterback in the evening to see what direction he wants to go in. That comes on the heels of news that co-defendants Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips are scheduled to appear in federal court in Richmond at...