It's sadistic mutilation. They weren't even killed quickly after they lost. Comparing this to hunting is absurd.
Posted on 08/17/2007 3:15:30 PM PDT by WarEagle
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 Virginia Beach entered plea agreements and agreed to testify against Vick. A third member of the dogfighting ring, Tony Taylor, struck a similar deal last month.
Vick's lawyers have been negotiating with prosecutors. One of Vick's attorneys, Lawrence Woodward, attended the plea hearings but declined to answer questions about the progress of the negotiations as he left the courthouse.
"Did you conspire with these folks to sponsor a dogfighting venture?" U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson asked Peace.
"Yes, sir," he replied.
As part of his plea agreement, Phillips signed a statement that said Vick joined in executing at least eight dogs that didn't do well in test fights by various methods, including hanging and drowning.
"Phillips agrees and stipulates that these dogs all died as a result of the collective efforts of Peace, Phillips, and Vick," the statement said.
Phillips and Peace also backed up Taylor's assertion that Vick was involved in gambling.
"The `Bad Newz Kennels' operation and gambling monies were almost exclusively funded by Vick," according to statements by the two men.
Those allegations alone could trigger a lifetime ban under the NFL's personal conduct policy.
Commissioner Roger Goodell has barred Vick from the Falcons' training camp but has withheld further action while the league conducts its own investigation. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league had no comment on the latest pleas.
Peace and Phillips pleaded guilty to the same charge facing Vick: conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and conspiracy to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture. Sentencing was set for Nov. 30.
The offense is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The men will get credit for accepting responsibility and cooperating with the government but would be penalized for animal brutality.
Peace remains free until sentencing, but Hudson found that Phillips violated the terms of his release by failing a drug test and ordered him jailed.
About 30 animal-rights activists protested quietly outside the courthouse. Afterward, as police officers cleared the scene, protesters continued waving large pictures of a mutilated dog.
"This is one dogfighting ring that's been annihilated," said John Goodwin, a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States.
The four defendants all initially pleaded not guilty, and Vick issued a statement saying he looked forward to clearing his name.
The case began in April with a search of Vick's property in Surry County, a few miles from Vick's hometown of Newport News. Investigators seized dozens of pit bulls, some of them injured, and equipment typically used in dogfighting operations.
The four men were indicted July 17.
___
Associated Press writer Dionne Walker contributed to this report.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic Ping List:
Please ping me to all note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.
Dogs matter. Baby seals matter. Do baby humans matter?
That was an ironic statement. YOU were equating hunting and this case.
you can kill people in this country,
and get away with it.
but if you mess around with our
doggies and kitties,
you’re in trouble!
/s
No I wasn't. I just brought up hunting. Didn't say they were equal.
skin that POS alive... then set his azz on FIRE!!!
I’m hearing here in Atlanta that Vick is essentially broke.
You can say that again.
How many more of your NFL players are now, or ever have been, engaged in that patently despicable activity, Mr. Commissioner?
Vick ran a dogfighting ring and lied to the commissioner about it. That right there is worth at least a year.
The other area is the gambling aspect. The NFL does not smile favorably on players gambling.
I do not a crap enough to actually read the entire article.
That said.....
One cannot execute a dog.
Dogs are dogs. I love dogs, and I love my own dog more than I love most people.
Still, a dog cannot be “executed’ and crazy persons are nowadays calling themselves “journalists.”
Dang...
I don’t like pit bulls ... but no dog deserves to have that done to them.
Anybody who equates this kind of evil with hunting Bambi for food is ... a fool. Besides, Bambi is very tasty.
As for Mr. Vick, well, our justice system wouldn’t approve, but more and more I find myself thinking that what he really deserves is some quality time with his “pets”. Perhaps after being hosed down with steak sauce.
The scum.
It’s horrible. The man was completely brutal and awful.
Yes, I agree, I think maybe sometimes people get a little too much on the “bleeding heart” side about animals, but there was no need for him to do the things he did to these dogs or to kill them the way he did. What a freak.
No, I didn’t hear about him slamming it head first on the cement. The guy really needs to go away.
Plus, he’s just a small time thug, mentally. When I lived in New York, the thugs would get these dogs and make them more vicious by torturing them (tying up their genitals and twisting, for example) and then keep them either (a) to guard their drug stashes or (b) to attack other drug thugs and their dogs.
You’d think millions of dollars a year might have convinced him that this shouldn’t be a part of his life-style anymore, but I guess not.
You should be careful about hunting deer: it's perilous for one's health.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.