June 23, 2008

The Good, The Bad and the Awful Truth

Buzz's Comments on Vick Events

by Buzz Miller (Play Magazine - Fall 2007)

I cannot find much to cheer about, with the announcement that Michael Vick accepted a plea bargain from the Federal Government and will spend the next year or so in jail. I am disheartened by the deep division over his responsibility and whether he is even guilty at all. There are two schools of thought. That his sentence will be far too lenient for this heinous crime - the killing of innocent dogs who animal lovers revere as their “best friends”. There is also the group that feels just as strongly that Michael Vick is suffering a great injustice for going to jail for killing dogs -dogs we’re talking about, not human beings. Their argument is that the law considers a companion animal a possession, so how can you go to jail for killing a dog? If you can abuse the sofa that you bought and paid for, why not the dog, who is a possession as well in the eyes of the law? After all, how can you compare the life of a dog to that of a human? Not just any human, mind you, but a national hero who hoards of young men look up to.

Vick, as well as many other Hollywood celebrities and sports personalities, can break the law every day. They are above mere mortal man, as Latrell Sprewell pointed out to us. Yes, the same Latrell Sprewell who choked his coach, and threatened to murder him. Last time I looked he was still on the court, thumbing his nose at us. Look at the ridiculous amount of money we pay these celebrities to entertain us?

A companion animal earns our love and devotion. Dogs work very hard to please us. They ask very little of us other than simple food, shelter and a pat on the head.
Forget about Michael Vick for just a moment. What about “puppy mills” that are in existence in picturesque Lancaster County? Talk about the hidden little secrets of the dog world. Have you seen vivid pictures of Amish breeding operations lately?

Sadly, I would have to say that the character and integrity of most dogs is far superior to that of most humans. They give us as much as we ask of them, many times under the most extreme conditions. Ask a Vietnam soldier who was forced to leave his K-9 partner behind. Ask them what happened to those trusted and loyal companions and why the military opted not to bring them home? Do you think that Michael Vick is an unusual situation? Trust me, I can give you volumes of the atrocities committed against these wonderful beings. Aren't dogs considered children to many of us who have had the good fortune to receive their unconditional love? Don't many of us feel as strongly about their well being as we do about any other member of our family? After all, they care so strongly about our well being and love us so unconditionally. They devote their lives trying to please us to the best of their ability and are willing to die for us. Ask a K-9 policeman about his dog and what that dog would do for him in the line of duty.

Pit Bulls, who have become the poster child for evil, were once innocent puppies who were reduced to monsters by their owners. They are molded into killers, not born that way. They used young, strong and very obedient dogs as their victims. Every single dog was abused in Vick’s charge. Have you ever watched the training involved in getting a Pit Bull to become vicious? It is extremely cruel and hard to watch. His dogs were trained and conditioned in the most horrific ways, to fight to the death to please Vick and his posse. Over and over again this monster groomed his wards for severe injury and eventual death. If they didn't die in the ring, they were killed, in the most grotesque of ways for simply not being vicious enough.
Dogs will do whatever we train them for, as we all know from our own pets. You can groom a young child to hate too and have them willingly wear a belt of explosives around their waist. Haven't you heard these stories on the airwaves?

Children tend to give unconditional love just as dogs do. We can impart love or hate on any living being by conditioning. Hitler was groomed by his father as a young child. The devotion of a dog, is unwavering, if you have ever had the privilege of receiving “unconditional love”. Values are learned not inherited. The standards were high for Vick's dogs. The few that made the elite list were forced to compete to the death, to please this monster. Anyone who commits murder more than once is considered a serial killer in the eyes of the law. Look at Jeffrey Dalmer, who practiced killing animals before moving on to humans. Habitual dog killers, such as Vick, receive small prison sentences, if any. With all the murders he committed at his dog fighting operation, his purported sentence will be less than two years. The fact that this made headlines at all and incited the entire world was because of his celebrity status and the Government's decision to set an example, not so much about the crime itself.

I learned recently that dog fighting is a $500,000,000 a year industry. Can you imagine how many dogs are killed each year to generate that kind of money? Worse yet, had his ““best friends”” not turned on him, a trial would have been held. Those in the know felt that there was the distinct possibility that one or two of the jurors would have felt Vick was innocent and he would have gotten off with a hung jury. If there had been a trial, it may have become a black and white issue rather than the real issue - the abuse and killing of innocent companion animals.

The hard and fast rule is that you don't snitch in the hood and you stick up for your own, in or out of the hood, no matter what. It just ain't cool not to support your own. It sickens me to think that he was the envy of many boys in the inner city who wanted to grow up to be just like him. Many of them still can't understand why, even today with all the evidence, that Michael Vick is going to jail. If he said he didn't do it, then that was good enough for his fans, his fellow sports personalities and the man in the barbershop who was sure he was going to be railroaded just as O. J. Simpson almost was. After all O. J. was a hero too, and heroes aren't just mere mortals - they are GOD. Last time I made a list of heroes, neither O. J. Simpson or Michael Vick was there.

A hero to me is the teacher who shows up every day in a war zone that is supposed to be the future for our children. Many schools have been reduced to minimum security facilities with guards and metal detectors at the entrances . Last year a teacher had his neck broken because he defied the rules set by the punks in his own classroom and would not permit them to break school rules - so the punks broke his neck. Gun totting young men are taking over our neighborhoods. They have no expectations of living beyond their twenties and are really dead men walking. A hero to me is a law abiding citizen who goes off to war in Iraq or on the streets of Philadelphia, dodging bullets to protect us from harm. Salaries are far too low for the risks they take to protect the lives of people they don't even know.

My heroes are the dogs that are used in combat as part of our military; as police dogs, to protect their partners and route out the criminals; at check points, weeding out illegal drugs and explosives; at 9-11 with the grim task of finding our loved ones; as disability dogs to give independence to their “best friends” and yes, even our secret service, protecting the President of the United States. They have 50 dogs that are used exclusively for that job. These dogs have been specifically trained in Europe and understand 4 different languages. They are trained to attack on secret command so that a terrorist might not catch on that they have them in their sights. At night these same dogs go home with their partners. They live with their families, because they are trusted and loyal. They leave their work behind, just as their human counterparts do, and become playful family pets when the workday ends. These men trust their dogs with their children, as we trust these men with the security of our Country.

I can't envision what would classify dog fighting as a sport, but then boxing is revered as a sport too. The difference is that fighters have a choice. No one forces them to get their brains beaten to a pulp or to put their lives on the line. Vick’s pit bills never had that choice. It always boggles my mind why two fighters are permitted to go at each other 12 or 15 rounds, with blood and sweat splattering in the air as screaming fans wait for the“kill”. Not much different from dog fighting, when you think about it. Vick and his cronies are serial killers. They should have been convicted of multiple counts of murder for these vicious crimes. If I had my way, animal laws would be changed in our country. 50 states now have some sort of animal abuse laws, but they are far from adequate. All of these killings were premeditated by serial killers. This was not a one time event, or as some people would like to believe, a mistake in judgment. Make no mistake about the crimes committed.
A killing field took place at Vick’s compound, under his auspices and financial support in the name of a"sporting event". This was anything but a sport. This was an execution chamber. These killings were out and out murder, planned and carried out by murderers. Other civilized societies have participated in the same barbaric types of sport, pitting humans against humans and animals against humans. Maybe that is where the name “pit bull” was derived from. Pitting dogs against dogs. Pit Bulls that have never been trained to fight are being put down. They received the real sentence here. Most people will not adopt them because of the Michael Vick's of the world. They have taken the wrap for these monsters and they are being put to death in pubic shelters because of the belief that they are killers.

This is the real travesty in this case. The dogs that will die because of Michael Vick. The promise of blood and death filled the air of the Coliseum during the Roman Empire. Nothing seems to have changed today, now that I think about it. We could change the pattern, if we started to tell the whole truth and snitch on the perpetrators; we raised our kids to be respectful of everyone, not just their own kind; and if we had severe punishment for murder, not just against human beings, but living beings as well.

If you judge a society by the way in which they treat their animals then ours is in a pretty sorry state. We will not survive, just as other civilizations fell, if we do not change the way in which we conduct our lives. Learn from the dogs who enliven our lives and you might realize that they have always been good, pure and most of all our “best friends” since the cave man. We can learn a lot from a dog -spelled backwards -GOD. The message has always been there. Dog was created in GOD's image - kind, devoted and pure! We can learn a lot from our dogs and I hope you reconsider adopting a sheltered Pit Bull. Most of them are wonderful companion animals and deserve a “forever home”.
 

Buzz Miller has spent the last 20 years devoting himself to helping companion animals and their owners. He recently opened Buzzy's Bow WOW Meow\, 701 Montgomery Ave, Narberth, PA in his mission is to educate and offer proper nutrition for companion animals. Visit his website at: buzzysbowWOWmeow or call: 610-617-3300