Dogfighting? What's the problem?

I haven't blogged on the open investigation into Falcons' QB Michael Vick's possible involvement in dogfighting. Even though it sounds bad, I thought I'd wait to see if any charges would be filed against Vick first and go from there. But Washington Redskins RB Clinton Portis and Tackle Chris Samuels changed that.

As I was driving home from the NCAA tennis championships in Athens last night, I heard a clip of an interview that Portis and Samuels gave to a Norfolk, VA television station yesterday. When asked about the Vick investigation, Portis said if Vick were convicted of dogfighting and went to jail, that Vick would be "put behind bars for no reason."

According to this MSNBC report, he went on to say:

“I don’t know if he was fighting dogs or not,” Portis said in
the interview. “But it’s his property; it’s his dogs. If that’s what he wants to do, do it.”

As he was speaking, fellow Redskin Chris Samuels was in the background laughing and making jokes about "Animal Planet."

The good thing for Portis is that he has agents and representatives from the Washington Redskins to come in behind him and clean up any mess that his ignorant ass happens to make in public. The Redskins issued a statement for him supposedly clarifying his feelings on dogfighting, saying that Portis doesn't "condone" dogfighting.

Yeah right. His original statement was clear enough for me.

After the clip was aired, there was an interview with an official from the national Humane Society. He estimates that there are over 20,000 animal fighters in our country alone. And there are breeders that breed dogs for dogfighting purposes and ship them to other countries.

So if something good comes out of all of this, hopefully it will be more public awareness about
animal fighting. Tougher laws need to be enacted along with tougher punishments for those that take part in animal fighting, own paraphanelia, or breed for these purposes. And it needs to be started right here in Georgia.

But the Redskins and the NFL could make a real statement of their own and get the message to Portis, Samuels, and any other idiot in their league that thinks dogfighting is funny.

Oh, and Mr. Blank, I wonder what's going through your mind, as well as the social conscience of the Atlanta Falcons organization? **Because, as it is, there are reports that scores of dogs found on Vick's property in Virginia will have to be euthanized or treated for injuries and malnutrition. The people of Atlanta and the entire country are watching to see just what you're going to do about this.

**P.S. May 26th's edition of the AJC contains an AP article quoting Prosecutor Gerald Poindexter as saying that earlier reports saying that dogs found on Vick's Virginia property were injured and malnourished are "erroneous." No charges have been filed in the case yet.