Paul Cruse III wonders what the difference is between the death of a dog in a fighting pit and the death of a cow in a slaughter house. I respond by asking Paul if he’s ever heard of a Bovine Police Unit? The last time he heard about a chicken pulling someone out of a fire? The fact is, that while what’s done in a slaughterhouse certainly can’t be called “humane,” it is for the benefit of humans as a source of food. And it is certainly less humane to train dogs to kill each other for some kind of twisted entertainment.

Dogs are called “man’s best friend” for no childish reason. Fossil evidence suggests domestication of dogs as far back as 100,000 years. More than that, dogs are highly valued for their intelligence, and their unique relationship to humans. A dog psychologically views its owner as a member, and almost always as the leader, of a pack. Cattle, on the other hand, are not particularly valued by society for their intelligence, nor do they have any particular affection for humans. Surely, the cow feels pain when it’s in the slaughterhouse. But it can be nothing to the emotional torture it is for a dog to know that the human that is supposed to be its family is electrocuting it, drowning it, or forcing it to fight another dog.

An old saying goes that bad dogs are not born, they are made by bad owners. Michael Vick knowingly supported the torture of an intelligent, emotional animal. As far as I’m concerned, and I can’t think of how another dog owner could disagree, Michael Vick can rot in prison, and never be allowed near a football again.