It's imperative that I open with that because I don't want you to misunderstand anything here.
In addition to being a dog-lover, I also like sports. For those of you within throwing distance of a television, radio, computer, or fellow human being can probably foresee where I'm going. Not long ago, a professional football player named Michael Vick was indicted on federal charges of being associated with (if not being the ringleader of) a dogfighting operation. (By the way, he recently pleaded "Not Guilty.") I won't go through all the trouble of recounting the horrors of which Vick is being accused, but they are inhumane at the very least. And as a fan of my dear ol' four-legged friend and his ilk, I am troubled by this. America, however, is seething.
PETA is regularly picketing the NFL headquarters in New York City; the ASPCA has an FAQ on their site regarding dogfighting; the Humane Society of the U.S. also mentions dogfighting and has posted stories of rehabilitated canines. A brief web search brings up countless blogs saying Vick should be fired from the NFL, thrown in prison for the rest of his life, fed to dogs, and other unmentionable acts. Hey, I'm furious with the guy, too. So I start thinking about ways people treat their dogs.
A few more moments wasted online brings up a plethora of ways to pamper your dog. My (least) favorites include PetCarriers, Pampered Puppy, and the Lang Institute. I was at a suburban shopping mall recently, one in middle America, where metropolitanism hits a few years after either coast. And there was a woman, maybe twenty years old, heading up a department store escalator, with her chihuahua in what I thought was a purse. Okay, so perhaps she was concerned about the dog chewing her wires at home or pooping in the back of her mother's Oldsmobile. And when I took my dog to obedience school, the instructor regularly made mention of the benefits of massage and aroma therapy...for the dog. Americans love their dogs.
So now what, Mr. Eyeball? Well, a television personality in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was recently fired over these comments regarding Michael Vick. And that bugs me. But not because of the callousness with which the gentleman made the remarks. Paul Zeise may have been exaggerating, but he's not too far off the mark.
While America is on a collective rampage about Michael Vick, we have forgotten about more pressing issues: Poverty, Homelessness, Domestic Violence, Violence Against Women, and these sites devoted to ending child abuse: No Excuse, Kids First Fund, and ChildAbuse.org. Include with that list many other global organizations that help people in need. We care about the violence done to our pets, but overlook the violence done to one another.
We shouldn't stop caring that dogfighting continues to happen because it's an atrocious, horrifying pastime for some, one that I'm please to have never witnessed. I hope that as Americans, as human beings, we begin to re-recognize the sanctity of human life, that be place more value on humanity. Let's not treat our dogs with more dignity than we treat our homeless, poverty-stricken, and hungry.
