Monday, July 23, 2007

Animal Cruelty Is A Crime in Any League

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    The National Football League should suspend Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. Now.
    A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Vick on charges involving a dogfighting operation. Dogfights are cruel and obnoxious enough, but prosecutors alleged that Vick and other members of the ring participated in killing weaker dogs by electrocution, drowning and shooting.
    The charges carry potential penalties of six years in prison plus $350,000 in fines. That won't be determined until the evidence is heard and a jury comes to a verdict in court.
    But the NFL isn't the courts. It's a high-profile employer whose conduct policy aims to keep the league's reputation from being stained by association with illegal or unsavory activities, like those contained in allegations against Vick. He owns the Virginia home where a police search discovered evidence consistent with dogfighting.
    The NFL also is a league trying to tighten up discipline after some lawless incidents by players— Adam "Pacman" Jones, Terry "Tank" Johnson— who seem to think their big-dollar contracts and ability to on the field should exempt them from laws of the land. Jones has been indicted for his role in a nightclub shooting, and Johnson is facing misdemeanor weapons charges.
    NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Jones and Johnson pending further investigation. He should suspend Vick.
    The case has hit one positive note: Bringing dogfighting and animal cruelty into the public eye and, in New Mexico, focusing attention on the month-old Animal Cruelty Task Force.
    The group coordinates law enforcement efforts to uncover dogfighting rings and investigate cruelty cases and soon will add a hotline.
    The NFL should show its compassionate side too, and send a message to its fans that dogfighting isn't a sport, it's a crime. And a despicable one, at that.

Posted with permission of the Albuquerque Publishing Company.