My Friendly Pets

Well, in case you haven’t heard enought about Michael Vick, I’ll bring you up to date on the latest. Yesterday, December 10, 2007, Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison after accepting a plea on federal dogfighting charges. the sentencing hearing took 90 minutes in federal court in Richmond, Virginia. The judge, Henry E. Johnson, a known dog lover, did not give Vick any slack. When Vick apologized for his actions and stated that he took full responsibility for his actions and would accept the consequences, the judge retorted by saying that Vick should apologize to the millions of young people who looked up to him and the judge also felt that Vick’s actions were not a result of a “momentary lack of judgment”, but rather, deliberate and planned actions that resulted in the abuse, neglect and death of those dogs.

Above is Bad Newz Kennels, where the the dog fighting operation took place in addition to Vick’s home is currently being auctioned. The assessed value stands at $750,000. In addition to this, Vick’s Atlanta home is on the market for $4.5 million dollars. Vick has agreed to pay $928,000 for the care of the 54 pitbulls that were found on his property. Also, according to court documents, Vick is in default on a loan for $1.3 million dollars for the purchase of a liquor store and still other banks and financial institutions have filed suit against Michael Vick for the repayment of $4.5 million in loans and lines of credit. Also, the Falcon’s are trying to recoup some of the $130 million of the 10 year contract salary and bonuses that Vick received.

Perhaps there are some who feel sorry for Vick. I’m not one of those people. I beleive people some how, some way, get what they deserve. There is no amount of money that can be placed on the suffering that those dogs endured at the hands of Vick and his co-conspirators. The dogs were not just killed, they were tortured and executed.

A poll taken last evening revealed that 56% of the people do not feel that Michael Vick received enough time as a result of his federal prison sentence. Maybe justice will be served at a later date when Vick goes to trial on Virginia state dog fighting charges. Currently Vick and his attorney are fighting these charges saying that he cannot be charged with the same crime twice. Time will tell, but in the mean time, there are a few dogs that are a bit luckier that Vick is currently behind bars.

To read some good things happening in Virginia, read fellow blogger, Michelle Schaefer talk about Virginia Beach.