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The 2011 NFL season is barely underway, and already handicappers are predicting who will play in next February’s Super Bowl XLVI; some are picking the Philadelphia Eagles to represent the NFC. At the same time, certain football moralists are ragging against the new contract inked by the Eagles’ quarterback, Michael Vick. They should get off Michael Vick’s rear end and let him play football. [ ... ] Liberals and conservatives alike frequently speak in support of rehabilitation and second chances; but such rhetoric often falls victim to prejudices against individual persons who have been convicted of crimes. In this instance,...

YORK COUNTY, SC (WBTV) - The York County Sheriff's Office and the York County Animal Control are investigating after they say an abandoned box with two dead dogs inside was found on the side of the road. According to the Sheriff's Office, a deputy received a report on Saturday morning around 9:50 a.m. about a box in the roadway on Devinney Road, near the City of York, with two dead dogs inside. This happened on the section of road between McFarland Road and East Liberty Street. A deputy responded and located the box containing two dead dogs which appeared to...

Michael Vick, the American football player who served 21 months in prison for dog fighting, is scheduled to appear on a Capitol Hill to speak about legislation which would penalize those who support animal fighting. The Morning Call reported that a bill, titled H.R. 2492, was recently introduced by U.S. Reps Tom Marino and Betty Sutton. It is designed to penalize those who finance and/or attend dog and cock fights and impose additional penalties on those who bring children to such events. Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) president and CEO Wayne Pacelle is also scheduled to be on...

WEST COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - The people at PETS, Inc. see animals come through the door in bad shape everyday, but some there say this one takes the cake. A dog they've named "Cowboy," walked in their doors timidly Saturday with a tennis ball in his mouth, bite wounds from the nose to tail, underweight and dehydrated. When they opened his mouth to determine his age, they were shocked to see that all of his teeth had been broken or sawed off, indicating that he had been used as a "bait dog" to train juvenile Pit Bulls for fighting. The...

The controversial Dog Wars app has been renamed KG Dogfighting and is back up on the Android Marketplace. The site says it was updated Saturday two days after the head of the Los Angeles police union urged Google to permanently pull the virtual dogfighting game app from its phone app marketplace. In the letter sent Thursday to Google Chief Executive Officer Larry Page, Los Angeles Police Protective League President Paul M. Weber urged Google "to do the right thing and ban this game permanently." "The game teaches users how to breed, train, fight, medicate and kill virtual dogs," Weber wrote...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Pennsylvania SPCA is working overtime this morning, raiding homes across the city breaking up what officials are calling the largest dogfighting ring they’ve ever seen in this city. Officials say this dogfighting ring has been under surveillance for awhile. And late last night, early this morning, the Pennsylvania SPCA with Philadelphia police acting on a tip that fights were happening, raided a home on the 2600 block of Gerritt Street. Pennsylvania SPCA director of law enforcement, George Bengal says when they entered the house, there were around 25 people watching a fight in progress. “They actually...

Police Saturday night arrested a suspected dog fighting ring being held in a garage on Ida-Maybee Rd., a high-dollar and bloody operation that attracted participants from various states. Up to 28 people were arrested and two of the five dogs seized are severely injured and might have to be put down. "It was brutal," said Detective Sgt. Heath Velliquette of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. "There was blood everywhere." Members of county's Special Response Team raided the garage about 10 p.m. just after a fight between two dogs had ended. Sgt. Velliquette said people scattered when the raid was announced...

French Rafale is best at dogfight Prashanth G N, TNN, Feb 12, 2011, 04.45am IST BANGALORE: If there is one thing the French Rafales can do best, it's the dogfight. Small and menacing, the Rafale can plunge in and out rapidly for short distances, hitting the enemy aircraft swiftly. Five French pilots have flown the Rafale all the way from France to Bangalore -- over 5,000 miles. "We flew in with three air-to-air refuellings. It was a beautiful flight with the two fighter aircraft following the fuel tanker in front. We had a stopover at UAE before coming to India....

Mel does not care who will be starting at quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles against the Dallas Cowboys today. They don't watch pro football at Mel's house. I don't care, either, especially not after meeting Mel. As fond as any journalist of a thumping good tale about disgrace and redemption, I can't stomach the rosy narrative surrounding Michael Vick's wondrous comeback. Why on earth the president chose to pay sentimental homage this past week to the Eagles for offering a "second chance" to a spoiled millionaire sociopath is an imponderable mystery.

Joy Tiz ©2010 The President of the United States took time out from his grueling party schedule to honor, not one of our brave troops, but a vicious animal abuser. Obama called Eagles owner, Jeff Lurie, to passionately gush his admiration for Michael Vick who served prison time for his “dog fighting” ring. But, this is not some backwater ignoramus staging fights in his back yard. Vick was all that and so much more. He tortured and killed helpless dogs. He used puppies as pit bull fighting bait. He mutilated animals who refused to fight. He slaughtered these helpless creatures...

He served 21 months in prison plus two months of home confinement. Add to that an epic public relations nightmare and the scorn of millions of people for an atrocious crime. Warranted? Sure. However, after two years of paying his debt to society, there are still some wanting to re-prosecute him for that same crime only because he finds himself in the public spotlight again. But with Thanksgiving upon us this is as good a time as any for us to forgive Michael Vick for his heinous and disgusting crimes. Over the last two weeks there hasn’t been a hotter...

Beloved cartoonist Berkeley Breathed had an unusual inspiration for his latest children's book, "Flawed Dogs." No it wasn't one of the Santa Barbaran's many rescued pit bulls, but it was one of Michael Vick's infamous dogs who was set to be put down. "The book happened because I came across both a picture and a quote at about the same time -- a picture of one of Michael Vick's fight dogs. It was set to be put down, but a shelter in Utah decided to take the dog and a few others at the same time and try to rehabilitate...

An international animal-protection group says the NFL should add dogfighting and cockfighting to its list of banned activities. Dogfighting is a crime in all 50 states and cockfighting is illegal in 48 states. In Defense of Animals has sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asking him to add both activities to the "criminal offense" section of the league's Personal Conduct Policy.

On the first Tuesday of October, the second day of its new session, the Supreme Court will take up the case of a dog lover whose bloody pit bull fighting videos have raised questions on whether free speech protects the sale of horrific scenes of animal cruelty. ~snip~ The case has made some strange allies. The New York Times joined other media organizations and publishing groups to write a brief to the Court supporting Stevens' case. The paper is concerned the animal cruelty law is so broadly written that it "imperils the media's ability" to report on animal issues. Also...

Cook County Sheriff's police have arrested three people allegedly involved in a dogfighting ring based at a home that also serves as a day-care facility in west suburban Maywood. The sheriff's department Animal Crimes Unit found a dog with its eye ripped out, a dog with a leg twisted backward and a dog with its lower extremities nearly ripped off during a Tuesday raid, according to a release. Nine dogs were undergoing surgery and rehabilitation Wednesday. The gruesome scene at three Maywood homes was made even more harrowing by the presence of a licensed day-care operation, Sheriff Tom Dart stated...

Michael Vick's dog fighting was hideous, but what would you say to a blood sport that features animal combatants that are subjected to electrocution, burning and near drowning? Even more amazing, contestants fighting their animals are as young as 12! NOTE: The author of this comic requests that you visit his web site and please refrain from copying the comic within this thread. Thanks a bunch!

Disgraced quarterback Michael Vick declared Sunday that he really "cares" about animals. He says he wept in disgust over his own cruelty to animals while serving time for running a bloody dogfighting ring. And yes, he also found God in prison. Treading the well-worn path of career revival, Vick went on CBS' "60 Minutes" pledging to devote himself to teaching kids from poor backgrounds to be kind to animals. "When I was in prison, I was disgusted, you know, because of what I let happen to those animals. I could've put a stop to it," he said. "And that was...

Michael Vic has been signed by the Philadelphia Eagles.

The U.S. Supreme Court today announced it will review the case of a Virginia man whose federal conviction in Pittsburgh for selling dog-fighting videos was overturned by an appeals court. Robert J. Stevens of Pittsville, Va., in 2005 became the first defendant ever convicted of a 1999 law prohibiting the sale of materials depicting animal cruelty. Some of the videos showed pit bulls fighting one another as well as attacking hogs.

The Supreme Court agreed today to take up an unusual free-speech case to decide whether the government can make it a crime to sell or own videos portraying dog fighting or other acts of animal cruelty. All 50 states have laws against animal cruelty, and a decade ago, Congress made it illegal to sell or possess photos or videos of animals being maimed, mutilated, tortured, wounded or killed. The aim was to combat an underground trade in videos that showed dogs fighting or mauling other animals. The law included exceptions for depictions with serious religious, scientific or artistic value. Last...

"While she was an officer with the Omaha Police Department, Abbie Cornett would occasionally run across the remnants of a dogfighting operation and the various items used to run it."

Former NFL star quarterback Michael Vick has pleaded guilty to a state dogfighting charge in Virginia in a bid to make him eligible for early release from jail.

When football superstar Michael Vick pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to run a dogfighting operation, we knew he had kept about 50 pit bulls on his 15-acre property in rural Surry County. We knew the dogs were chained to car axles near wooden hovels for shelter. And we knew the dogs that didn't fight were beaten, shot, hanged, electrocuted or drowned. But we didn't know their names. Headlines described the nameless dogs as "menacing." Some animal rights groups called for the "ticking time bombs" to be euthanized as soon as Vick's case was closed and they were no longer...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide bombing at an outdoor dog fighting competition killed 80 people and wounded scores more Sunday, a governor said, in what appeared to be the deadliest terror attack in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Officials said the attack apparently targeted a prominent militia commander who had stood up against the Taliban. He died in the attack. Several hundred people — including Afghan militia leaders — had gathered to watch the event on the western edge of the southern city of Kandahar. Witnesses reported gunfire from bodyguards after the blast; it was not...

(Jan. 27) - His back resting comfortably against her chest, Hector nestles his massive canine head into Leslie Nuccio's shoulder, high-fiving pit bull paws against human hands. The big dog - 52 pounds - is social, people-focused, happy now, it seems, wearing a rhinestone collar in his new home in sunny California. But as Hector sits up, deep scars stand out on his chest, and his eyes are imploring. "I wish he could let us know what happened to him," says Nuccio, the big tan dog's foster mother. Hector ought to be dead, she knows - killed in one of...

NORFOLK, Va. - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has created a holiday e-card featuring former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who is serving a 23-month federal sentence for a dogfighting conspiracy. Vick and three co-defendants raised pit bulls and trained them for fighting at a house Vick owned in rural Surry County. Several dogs that didn’t perform well in test fights were executed. In the card, a cartoon version of Vick paces across a prison yard inside a snow globe as gun-toting guards and their barking dogs keep watch. He’s wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and football helmet...

Five Atlanta Falcons players have been fined a total of $47,500 by the NFL for uniform violations that stemmed from demonstrations of their support for banished quarterback Michael Vick during the team's loss to the New Orleans Saints on Dec. 10. Several hours before the game, Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for his role in an illegal dogfighting ring that was centered on property he owned in Virginia. Cornerbacks DeAngelo Hall and Chris Houston, wide receiver Roddy White and tight end Alge Crumpler each were fined $10,000. Wide receiver Joe Horn was fined $7,500. It is not...

RICHMOND, Va. — Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison Monday for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy that involved gambling and killing pit bulls. The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback could have been sentenced up to five years by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson. Vick, who turned himself in Nov. 19 in anticipation of his sentence, was wearing a black-and-white striped prison suit. After Vick apologized to the court and his family, Hudson told him: "You need to apologize to the millions of young people who looked up to you." "Yes, sir," Vick answered. Vick acknowledged he...

Vick given a 23 month sentence. Plus 3 years of probation. Breaking.

Federal investigators are looking into connections between trained fighting dogs bred by a man found shot to death in rural North Carolina and the dogfighting operation headed by suspended NFL quarterback Michael Vick. The sheriff investigating the North Carolina killing said he plans to pursue links between the dogfighting groups to see if they can answer any questions in the unsolved homicide. But for now, federal investigators are the ones searching the shooting victim's records for more evidence that might implicate Vick and other members of Bad Newz Kennels in interstate dogfighting, the sheriff said. (snip) "Everybody we've talked to...

After long search, football star finds Jesus “hangin’ out” in courthouse restroom Michael Vick trades up! RICHMOND, VA – They say all dogs go to heaven. Well, after punching more than his share of canine tickets to paradise, Michael Vick seems to have finally found a little salvation for himself. After pleading guilty to federal dogfighting charges last month, the world heard Michael Vick proclaim his newfound faith in Christ. “I found Jesus,” Vick told reporters outside the courthouse. “And turned my life over to God.” What most people don’t know is that Vick had actually been looking for Jesus...

Michael Cook | Friday, 31 August 2007 The crimes of Michael Vick When dogs die in Virginia, there's a media frenzy. When patients die in New Orleans, there's silence. NFL quarterback Michael Vick faces 12 to 18 months in jail and the ruin of his brilliant career with the Atlanta Falcons -- for killing six or eight pit bulls and running a dogfighting operation in Virginia. "Barbaric". "Reprehensible". "Odious". The media was outraged. Even a remorseful Michael Vick sniffled that it was "a terrible thing". The leading animal rights groups, the Humane Society and People for the Ethical Treatment...

As someone who once lived in the heart of Newport News, Va., and, in fact, in Michael Vick's school district, I was amused to hear Whoopi Goldberg's assessment that dogfighting is endemic to the Deep South and the sophisticates of our urban jungles do not understand. Vick's supporters sometimes appear to want it both ways. One day he is from the mean streets of Newport News and the next day he is from the Deep South. I happened to live on one of those mean streets of Newport News, and not once did I ever have to dodge bullets after...

Dear Ms. Whoopi Goldberg, don't tell me that torturing animals (dog-fighting) -- "hanging, drowning, and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground" -- is an integral part of Southerners' "cultural upbringing." I've lived in the Deep South for about 5 years, visited family there many times, and vacationed there more times than I can remember. My experiences? Good, decent people, and beautiful cities, countryside, and beaches. So how did this dog-fighting controversy get started? Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was busted red-handed running a chamber of horrors for canines. Not only was he fighting dogs, but torturing them...

NEW YORK -- Whoopi Goldberg started her stint on ABC's "The View" Tuesday by coming to the defense of convicted felon Michael Vick. Just 15 minutes into the show she brought up Vick's conviction on dogfighting charges. "You know from his background this is not an unusual thing for where he comes from," said Goldberg. "There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of our country." Co-host Joy Behar seemed shocked at Goldberg's statements. "How about dog torture and dog murdering," Behar asked.

Taxpayers spared hit from Michael Vick's dogfighting misdeeds BY CHRISTIAN REDDAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERSaturday, September 1st 2007, 7:41 PM John Goodwin, the deputy manager for animal cruelty issues for The Humane Society of the United States, says that another negative fallout from dogfighting cases is that "the taxpayer gets hit" with the costs of housing and caring for the animals."That's one more cost of the (Michael) Vick case and these cases," says Goodwin. "These animal-control centers are municipal buildings funded by the government, so the taxpayer gets hit as a result."In the case of Vick, the disgraced Atlanta Falcons...

USC running backs coach Todd McNair, a former NFL player who is in his fourth season with the Trojans, was twice convicted on charges related to mistreatment of dogs in the 1990s, according to reports. "I really don't want to comment on something 14 years ago, and especially something I was cleared for," McNair said Tuesday night. McNair was never convicted of dogfighting. Coach Pete Carroll said he became aware of the incidents about a week ago and addressed them with McNair. The incidents came to light again on the website BruinsNation.com. "We looked into it to make sure we...

USC assistant football coach Todd McNair said Wednesday that reports detailing his two 1990s convictions for mistreating dogs did not "accurately portray" what actually happened. "I understand the interest about the thing in light of all that's gone on in Virginia with the [Michael] Vick case and everything," he said in an interview outside USC's Heritage Hall. "But my case was totally different from that. . . . I was cited for neglect. I wasn't convicted for abuse." McNair, who is about to begin his fourth season as the Trojans' running backs coach, was charged with cruelty to animals, failure...

A Boston judge sentences a man to probation and home confinement after his admission that he abducted and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy. A Nebraska judge sentences a convicted sex offender to probation and electronic monitoring because she fears for the mentally impaired man"s safety in prison. A Vermont judge sentences a child molester to 60 days in jail in order to facilitate his prompt treatment. Justice is hardly blind, if only because it is meted out by the colossal imperfection known as the human. And judges are as human as the person who comes to your home to fix...

Michael Vick was always something of an Allen Iverson for Atlanta. Without him, the team is terrible, and with him, the team can never be great. He’s a wonderful athlete who dominates little more than the highlight reel. Truth be told, I seriously doubt the Falcons would have ever succeeded with Vick at the helm. As far as I’m concerned, the dog-fighting scandal was one of the best things that could have happened to the Falcons. They had to get rid of him somehow, even if they didn’t want to accept it. Michael Vick had a special appeal with the...

Dog fighting case unmasks fixers' of US sport By Tim Shipman in Washington, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 1:42am BST 26/08/2007 When American football star Michael Vick enters a guilty plea in a Virginia courtroom tomorrow on dog fighting charges, he will not be the only one facing judgment. Michael Vick arrives at court in Virginia last month The disgrace of one of the sport's most exciting young players - who plays for the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League (NFL) - has drawn attention to what critics say is a culture of criminality and cover-up in US professional sport....

In a June 2000 photo shoot for a story in SI's College Preview issue, Vick was photographed with his pit bull Champagne. Read enough legal documents -- indictments, subpoenas, lawsuits -- and you begin to think of some lawyers as artists. They can write a sentence that appears simple, its point obvious, but if you read it again and again the meaning changes. It becomes more like poetry than legalese, everything subject to your own interpretation. The statement of fact filed Friday in a federal courthouse in Richmond, Va., as part of the plea agreement for Falcons quarterback Michael Vick,...

For all the big words and life lessons Roger Goodell included in his booming reaction to Michael Vick's admission of involvement in dogfighting, the NFL commissioner's message seemingly could have been whittled to two words: Nice try. Goodell suspended the Atlanta Falcons quarterback indefinitely without pay Friday, just hours after Vick filed a plea agreement that portrayed him as less involved than three co-defendants and guilty mainly of poor judgment for associating with them.

Atlanta Falcons Quarterback To Plead Guilty To Lesser Charges (CBS News) RICHMOND, Va. The National Football league has suspended Michael Vick indefinitely after he pleaded guilty to charges related to dogfighting on Friday. Vick filed his plea agreement in federal court Friday admitting to conspiracy in a dogfighting ring and helping kill pit bulls. He denied ever betting on the fights, only bankrolling them. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback is scheduled to formally enter his plea Monday in U.S. District Court. He signed the plea agreement Thursday. "Most of the Bad Newz Kennels operation and gambling monies were provided by Vick,"...

Deputies with the Maricopa County sheriff's office raided the Cave Creek, Arizona, home of rapper DMX on Friday morning (August 24), and according to a police spokesperson, 12 pit bulls were removed from the residence, all in bad condition. Police would not get into specifics but did say the animals are being tended to by veterinarians. At this point, DMX (real name: Earl Simmons) has not been officially charged with any crime, but police are still investigating. DMX was not at his home at the time of the raid, during which police also discovered a large cache of weapons. Police...

Hounding Vick While ranting about NFL quarterback Michael Vick for his alleged dog fighting activities, CNN talker Nancy Grace added another charge to her brilliant "legal" brief: Vick's been rapin' on the bitches. By that she meant inseminating bitches that "refused" to breed. The exact crazy quote has Grace say the following to her equally indignant guest: "You left out the rape stand, where female dogs that don't want to breed are raped, essentially." In Graceland, canines must consent before being bred, or is it "having sex." Nancy didn't indicate whether she was as passionate about the "violations" visited upon...

Vick signs plea deal in federal dogfighting case By DAVE FORSTER, The Virginian-Pilot © August 24, 2007 | Last updated 1:38 PM Aug. 24 Michael Vick has agreed in a plea deal with federal prosecutors that he supported a dogfighting enterprise from 2001 to 2007 and that he provided most of the gambling money that his co-defendants used to bet on matches, according to a signed summary of facts released today in the case. Vick is scheduled to plead guilty on Monday in U.S. District Court in Richmond to one felony count of conspiracy that is punishable by up to...

Michael Vick's father said he asked his son to give up dogfighting, or to at least put property used in the venture in the names of others to avoid being implicated, according to a report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Michael Boddie, who is estranged from Vick and the quarterback's mother, also said some time around 2001 his son staged dogfights in the garage of the family home in Newport News, Va. Boddie told the newspaper Vick kept fighting dogs in the family's backyard, including dogs that were ``bit up, chewed up, exhausted.'' Boddie claimed to have nursed the dogs back...

www.capitalnews9.com Animal advocate bites back after Marbury comments on Michael VickUpdated: 8/21/2007 9:22:43 AMBy: Britt Godshalk "I was pretty disappointed," Mohawk & Hudson River Humane Society Executive Director Brad Shear said after hearing comments New York Knick Stephon Marbury made just after Michael Vick's plea deal on federal dog fighting charges. While promoting his own basketball shoe Monday, Marbury spoke on the situation.He said, "I think it's tough. I think, you know, we don't say anything about people who shoot deer or shoot other animals. You know, from what I hear, dog fighting is a sport. It's just behind closed...

rue to our American ideals, reaction to Michael Vick’s involvement in dog fighting has touched every conceivable emotion. NBA guard Stephon Marbury had a novel interpretation. He called dog-fighting a sport and compared it to deer hunting. His comments immediately became fodder for every talk-show on the map. Talking-heads everywhere have reacted as if Marbury just flew in from Mars. I would rather give Marbury the benefit of the doubt and stop the latest round of moral outrage. The product of an inner-city, east-coast upbringing, Marbury’s life experiences are vastly different from those who grew up in a deer-hunting culture....