Editor's Desk
Not About The Dogs
By Tony DeFazio, PSR Editor

Michael Vick is out of jail.

Much is being made about whether the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback and current ex-con should be allowed to play football again. Folks on both sides of the argument have legitimate points.

After all, some ask, hasn't he paid his debt to society? He served almost two years behind bars. And while what Vick did was inhumane, they argue, his crimes were against dogs, not humans, and there are players in the NFL who have assaulted and even murdered other people.

Others see the vicious cruelty with which his actions were carried out-not just the dogfighting itself, but the extremely violent ways these animals were killed when they did not perform up to standards-and have a harder time forgiving Vick. Dogs were hanged, electrocuted and body-slammed to death; borderline sadistic behavior.

Still others simply point to the fact that Vick is an ex-felon, and ex-felons in most other walks of life will never work in their chosen fields again because of their past transgressions.

But what just about everyone seems to be missing is that Michael Vick's case wasn't about dogs.

Sure, the case turned into a crusade against animal cruelty. The animal rights people saw this as a perfect showcase for their battle, so they jumped in with both feet. The media was on board, deftly mixing images of man's best friend with the appalling photographs of Vick's abused dogs. That's what those of us in the media do nowadays. Whatever stirs up the most emotions become the images we link to our stories, hoping we can sell more papers, get more viewers and charge more for advertising.

But let's focus on Vick again. There is not even a mention of animals until the ninth line of the documents presented to the Grand Jury; no mention of dogs or canines until the 13th line. Dogfighting was how Vick got in trouble, not why.

As gruesome and sadistic as his actions towards these dogs were, Michael Vick was incarcerated for reasons that had very little to do with dogs, and he was locked up for as long as he was for reasons that had even less to do with the animals.

He went to federal prison because he facilitated "the promotion, management, establishment, and carrying on of an unlawful activity, to wit: a business enterprise involving gambling" that included "traveling in interstate commerce."

Illegal gambling across state lines. That's why the FBI was involved. That's why Vick served time in a federal penitentiary. And that's why Vick's case is different than the dozens of assault cases that the NFL deals with on an annual basis. Illegal gambling is not, and has never been, taken lightly by any level of government, especially the Feds.

Vick was behind bars for 23 months-rather than the expected 12-18-because, in the midst of the legal proceedings, he flunked a drug test, lied about his drug use and failed a lie-detector test.

Pete Rose was thrown out of Major League Baseball and is not in the Hall of Fame because he gambled and subsequently lied about it. The difference is that Vick gambled and lied about an illegal, violent activity; Rose gambled and lied about America's national pastime.

It's easy to get taken for a ride in the emotions surrounding Vick's case. The PETA folks will protest if Vick plays football again, and those who view organizations like PETA as misguided (which they often seem to be) will complain about the protests.

But both groups have been taken for a ride.