We the people who advocate the human treatment of animals want you to know, Mr. President, and Humane Society of the United States,  that we are upset that you endorse Michael Vick. Agreed he paid his dues, but he nevertheless is a glorified dog torturer and killer who practiced dog fighting for a number of years as a life style and even initially denied to the Court system any wrong doing until his friends turned him in. 

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/12/wh-confirms-obama-happy-michael-vick-is-getting-a-second-chance.html

We feel Vick should NOT be a role model to our young associating a hero with a dog fighter.

http://chrisdurant2000.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/michael-vick-was-wrongly-convicted/

QUOTED FROM ARTICLE:

I think anyone who thinks that Michael Vick has paid his debt and is a reformed individual needs to take a little walk down memory lane and remind themselves just what this so-called man was engaged in and willfully perpetrated.

Here are the facts:

* Michael Vick was a REGISTERED dog breeder.
* April 24, 2007: Michael Vick’s cousin, Davon Boddie, was arrested in Hampton, Va., on drug charges, leading police to obtain a warrant to search his home (owned by Vick) for other drugs and paraphernalia.
* April 25, 2007: While serving the search warrant, police discovered evidence of an alleged dogfighting operation, including rape stands, pry bars, treadmills modified for dog training, and a blood-stained carpet. Animal-control officers also removed 66 dogs from the property, 55 of which were pit bulls.
* Vick and his co-defendants began the dogfighting operation in early 2001.
* Fights staged on the Surry County premises had purses of as much as $20,000 or more at times.
* The formation of Bad Newz Kennels and testing of the dogs began in early 2002. According to the indictment, one of the dogs did not fight well and was shot to death with a .22 caliber pistol.
* In March 2003, after a pit bull from Bad Newz Kennels lost in a fight, it was executed by wetting it with water and electrocuting it.
* In April 2007, approximately eight dogs that did not perform well in testing were killed by “hanging, drowning, and slamming at least one dog’s body to the ground.”

Here is what Virginia law provides in terms of sentencing for animal cruelty related crimes:

In Virginia, a first offense that does not result in the death of an animal is a Class 1 misdemeanor, which carries a sentence of twelve months or less and a fine of up to $2500 or both. A person committing a second offense, or if the animal dies as a result of the first offense, is guilty of a Class 6 felony, punishable by up to five years in prison or, in the alternative, a prison sentence of less than a year or a maximum fine of $2500 or both. In addition, the owner of a dog or cat injured or killed as a result of cruelty is entitled to a damage award for the value of the animal or the damage done.

Just so we’re clear, Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months and served 18. Hmm. Now, I am no math wizard, but that seems quite short of the potential maximum.

Why, you ask? Because Michael Vick was not convicted according the Virginia Animal Cruelty laws.

__UNQUOTE__

Yes Vick should be free, but we do not feel he should have never been allowed back to the NFL considering *YEARS* of horrific animal torture and killing to derive unnatural perverted pleasure watching dogs rip each other apart with screams of agony. We do NOT think this is funny. We do NOT approve.

We are also offended that Vick even  proclaimed in public  that he wants dogs for pets, which was approved by the Humane Society of the United States. This statement is the equivalent of approving a child molester to adopt kids.  Yes, I'm sure Vick would love some pit bulls.

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/steve-dale-pet-world/2010/12/hsus-says-vick-is-almost-ready-to-have-a-dog.html

 

Thank you for your time and reading. I just wanted you to know how upset we are.

cc: My Federal law makers

PS: Interesting Editorial by the Washington Post, quoted in part:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/12/the_real_reason_vick_got_a_sec.html

"Vick staged dog fights and killed dogs not because he had to, but because he chose to. He's a thug.
Dog fighting was Vick's hobby. He had been warned about it. His own father had told him to stop. He persisted because, as with many great athletes, he was never held accountable. A nation of jock-sniffers always looks away when a great athlete does something wrong. Nothing is an important as winning -- we all know that -- and Vick was and is a winner. The sanctimony regarding this dog killer is sickening. He was wantonly cruel, not only pitting dogs against one another in fights, but drowning poor performers. Didn't he know this was cruel? Didn't he know wounded dogs were in pain? Is he so stupid he didn't notice the blood, the torn skin, the...? Oh, forget it! The man's an animal himself. Now Vick has punched all the tickets on the road to rehabilitation. He is contrite. He loves pooches. He might even get a dog himself. How much of this is genuine and how much is synthetic I leave to you. But I'll tell you this. Vick got a second chance not because he deserves it but because he can play football."

PS-If President Obama believes in second chances then why didn't he adopt a hypoallergenic dog from the pound. Plenty of them to choose from in a nation whose dog pounds are always full, and will be destroyed.