[Raymann]

You know I’ve said this before, I never really understood why people hate the guy so much. America bans a lot of activities where the execution of such doesn’t violate anyones rights but while some may disapprove of them, its rare that people hate those that engage in them.

I grew up in an area where cockfighting was perfectly legal until recently. I went to see the fights on occasion and even placed a bet from time. Doesn’t make me or anyone else there a psychopath (unless you have some strange morality system that not only gives animals’ rights but gives dogs more of them somehow). I’ve killed deer, hogs, chickens, turtles (usually by scalding), snakes, etc. No one has a problem with those but somehow dogs are more special? I really can’t understand that.

[07Jack]

I'm a hunter but I do draw a distinction between when I kill a wild animal hunting and what Vick admitted to doing. Vick not only was involved in a dog fighting ring but also admitted to torturing under-performing dogs to death by hanging or slowly drowning them while electrocuting them with jumper cables and car batteries. Also for entertainment they would gather dogs that were raised as pets and watch the trained fighting dogs maul them to death.
Maybe I'm being hypocritical but I see a definite distinction.

[Tallguy]

I grew up in an area where cockfighting was perfectly legal until recently. I went to see the fights on occasion and even placed a bet from time. Doesn’t make me or anyone else there a psychopath (unless you have some strange morality system that not only gives animals’ rights but gives dogs more of them somehow). I’ve killed deer, hogs, chickens, turtles (usually by scalding), snakes, etc. No one has a problem with those but somehow dogs are more special? I really can’t understand that.

Times change. In pre-industrial times dogs were bred to perform laborsaving tasks for humans. The work was tough & the dogs were ultimately replaceable no matter how good they were at their tasks.

Now dogs, regardless of their original purpose or in-bred instincts, are viewed primarily as pets.