200,000 Signatures and Counting to Keep Michael Vick from Coaching Pro Bowl

Michael Vick is a cruel, sick man who oversaw and participated in the abuse, torture, and murder of innocent animals. He also played football, and that’s apparently so much more important that not only did he play again after his prison sentence for dog fighting, but he’s also been selected to coach the 2020 Pro Bowl, which I’m given to understand is quite an honor.

As you can imagine, people think that’s a crock of sh*t, and over 200,000 of them– and counting– have signed a petition asking that the NFL reconsider its decision.

One one side of the discussion, you have people arguing that Vick served his time; he pled guilty (to racketeering related to the dog fighting organization, but not to animal cruelty), and he’s been involved with anti-dog fighting advocacy since. He also gave $1 million as part of his sentencing to the rehabilitation of the 47 out of 51 dogs they were able to rescue (since dubbed Vick-tory dogs). This was actually a pretty big deal, because before Vick’s case, animal rescue organizations never really had the resources to try rehabilitating fighting dogs. No one was really sure if it could be done, but now we know that it absolutely can.

On the other side of the coin, Michael Vick is a dog abuser and dog killer. Because his charges were related to racketeering, the details of the abuse these dogs suffered never fully surfaced, and we were largely spared from staring the ugliness in the face.

If you want to keep it that way, probably you should stop reading this article right now.

Michael Vick murdered dogs by clipping jumper cables to their ears and a car battery and throwing them into a pool. Donna Reynolds from BAD RAP was one of the experts that went to evaluate the farm where the fighting took place; she wrote,

We don’t know how many suffered this premeditated murder, but the damage to the pool walls tells a story. It seems that while they were scrambling to escape, they scratched and clawed at the pool liner and bit at the dented aluminum sides like a hungry dog on a tin can.

He hanged dogs with jumper cables. He drowned them in buckets. He slammed them on the ground until they died. Michael Vick himself admitted to these actions. He was directly involved. He forced otherwise peaceful dogs to fight each other; he stole family pets to use as bait dogs. And he laughed when they died.

There’s a lot of exaggerated, unnecessary, hate-fueled outrage out there. This is not one of those times. This is a time we should be angry. We should be angry that a man as sick, violent, and evil as this is being honored in any capacity. There is no honor in a man who treats God’s creatures that way.

Now, after doing the research to write this article, I feel sad and very heavy, and I need to ask a favor of y’all. Please, right this minute, go give any/all the dogs in your lives a million pets and kisses and treats. Pictures of said dogs in the comments are welcome and encouraged.

Here’s a more uplifting note to end on.