Little Red
Little Red’s face tells a thousand sad stories. She arrived at Best Friends clearly having nursed many puppies. She was covered in facial scars, and had teeth that had been filed down. Her face and her teeth make her look like a “bait” dog — a dog who is less tough than the others, who is used as a practice target for dogs training to fight.
~Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
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Obama Calls Eagles Owner, Thanks Him for Giving Michael Vick a 2nd Chance
Doug Powers
MichelleMalkin.com
12/27/2010
The Humane Society endorsed Obama in 2008, but maybe the president knows this is becoming safer political territory on which to tread, because less than two weeks ago the president of the Humane Society said he’s open to Vick one day being allowed to own dogs again.
From Sports Grid:
Obama, it seems, is squarely in the “credit Vick for making good on another chance” camp. King said last night that Obama called Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and commended him for giving Vick the second chance many ex-prisoners never receive…
…would the call have been made if Lurie wasn’t such a big Democrat/Obama supporter?…
This article continues at MichelleMalkin.com
From The Daily Caller: FoodPolitik: Farmers shouldn’t own animals, but Michael Vick can. Excuse me?
When the CEO of a “Humane Society” says convicted dog-fighting kingpin Michael Vick “would do a good job as pet owner,” it should raise more red flags than a Chinese parade. That’s just what happened two weeks ago as Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), endorsed Vick’s future as a dog owner.
If that seems out of the mainstream, or sounds like something your local humane society would never say, you’re on to something.
HSUS isn’t a pet shelter organization. It’s an animal rights group that has grand designs on reshaping Americans’ relationship with animals—especially the animals we eat…
…Fundamental to animal rights activists is the idea that animals have a “right” not to be eaten (by people, at least). And forget zoos. Seeing eye dogs are slaves. Your home aquarium is a little fish prison. And cancer research can’t use mice unless they sign tiny consent forms.
Since 2004, when Wayne Pacelle became the first strict vegan to hold HSUS’s top job, he’s increased its number of lawyers ten-fold. He steered millions in public donations to his staff (and himself), diverting money from pets to pension plans and big-business-level salaries. Pacelle recruited top PETA staffers to run “shareholder activism” against food companies, and to produce the kind of anti-farmer schlock-u-mentary films that made their PETA mentors famous…
Allahpundit writes at HotAir
Hey, every man deserves a second chance. Especially, I guess, if that man happens to be anMVP-caliber quarterback capable of generating untold millions in revenue for his franchise. On that note, my congratulations to America’s professional boxing associations for giving Mike Tyson a second chance after that rape conviction, and to every record company ever for retaining multiplatinum bands whose members have been busted for drugs. Truly, behavior this selfless deserves a personal phone call from the president of the United States.
Remember, kids: It’s never too late to straighten yourself out, if you happen to be fantastically talented…
…Exit question: Was there really no celebrity with a more sympathetic offense for Obama to make an example of? How many athletes and entertainers have cleaned up after victimless crimes involving drugs?
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An animal society called Best Friends took in nearly two dozen of Vick’s pit-bull dogs. Read about the “Vicktory Dogs” and perhaps even consider sending a small donation to this amazing rescue group.
We call them the Vicktory Dogs – 22 pit bulls seized from ex-NFL star Michael Vick and placed in special care at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. They’re here because they had nowhere else to go.
Many of them are suffering from serious psychological and emotional trauma, similar to what you see in children from situations of abuse and neglect. Many of them had been forced to fight to the death – like gladiators in some primitive arena.
Other national organizations had simply called for the dogs to be killed. But what kind of message does that send about how our society treats the victims of such horrible abuse? There are real options, and with your support these dogs can have good lives that make up for everything that went before.
Already they’re making progress: learning how to play, how to relax, how to love. Many of them will be adopted to experienced homes. Others will live out their lives in the beautiful environment of Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.
Follow their progress as they start new lives here at the nation’s largest refuge for abused and abandoned animals.
Update: Jihad Watch, Obama calls Pakistani Prez to appeal for clemency for Asia Bibi — no, wait…
Update 2: Why Michael Vick deserves a dog, at Salon.
Update 3: The Dog Files, Did President Obama just set back animal welfare?
Update 4: RedState, On Vick and values
…Richard Cohen… writes:
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. This is the lesson we can all take from this sorry episode. It’s one thing to be sorry. It’s much better to hit your man in the end zone.
Hear, hear. Obama’s attempt to place some sort of charitable motivation upon Vick’s signing by the Eagles is a bit of a stretch, to say the least.
Mo’Kelly, at the Huffington Post, notes the key point as well:
Professional sports is a meritocracy, not a charitable organization about the business of garnering presidential voicemails. If Michael Vick were to unfortunately suffer a career-ending injury in his next game; he would be cut, his career disappear and his non-guaranteed contract money right along with it.
President Obama’s phone call (and subsequent spotlight) would have been better served highlighting individuals and entities truly about the business of helping everyday African-American men reintegrate themselves into society after prison; not offering more inappropriate idolatry of athletes.
Michael Vick is an exceptionally talented football player who presently has value to the Philadelphia Eagles; no more, no less. The Philadelphia Eagles franchise is about the business of winning football games and maximizing revenue. The franchise took Vick on a flyer and it panned out.
Bully for them.
Let’s not rewrite history and attribute altruistic motives where they do not belong or exist.
Praise Michael Vick for his football prowess. Applaud the Philadelphia Eagles for the shrewd construction of its present team. But never should any president be heaping praises of morality on an organization for simply attempting to sell more tickets, win more games and ultimately make more money. Eventually, President Obama will concern himself with the issues most important to African-Americans, as in the multitude. It just won’t be today as this clearly is not one of them.
To be sure, the Vick situation is little more than a capitalistic move on the part of the Eagles, with which I have little issue. However, I see a slightly different theme here, concerning our willingness to look beyond the moral/behavioral issues of athletes and entertainers. The amount of latitude in behavior that community receives from the public is repulsive. This episode with Vick is yet another road sign along the path of moral decay in this country – that a guy like Vick can pull the stunts that he did and not only be permitted to play again in the NFL, but even worse: to again receive fan adulation, despite being one of the biggest scumbags to ever hit the field … Furthermore, I believe that the cultural attitude that has permitted Vick to be so quickly forgiven and “redeemed” is more than a little bit connected to the current downhill rush to libertarianism within the GOP. We as a society are in the process of abandoning moral positions for “bigger and better things”, namely getting as many votes as possible and worrying more about our wallets than our values…
