Let Fighting Dogs Bite

Let Fighting Dogs Bite

Michael Vick, Atlanta Falcons star quarterback, has been accused of participating in dogfighting, a seemingly brutal and disgusting pastime. He has basically admitted it. Therefore, he has been asked to stay away from training camp because dogfighting is a federal crime.

I love pets, though dogs are my favorite. I wish I had one or two of my own but I live alone in an apartment and I am away more than I am home. If I had a dog I would treat it very well. I would treat it like a beloved son or daughter. Unfortunately for me, keeping a dog would be unfair to the animal. It's my loss.

I personally believe that all animals should be treated with respect and dignity, but I don't believe they deserve the rights of humans. Otherwise, how could I eat them? And although I can be correctly accused of treating many pets as if they can understand what I say, I know they cannot. I would never purposely torture or cause an animal to suffer.

But... I believe that a pet is the property of its owner and its owner can do whatever he wants to it. Tired of a fish? Flush it down the toilet. Raising rabbits? Slit their throats, peel off their fur and eat them while you makes coats out of them. Have dogs that have been bred and trained to be vicious and fight? Then put the dog in a ring with another vicious dog and let them tear each other apart.

My grandfather Harold, back in the late forties when my Mom was just a girl, didn't have a lot of money. He used to go hunting for food for his family; mainly game birds. His old hunting dog, whose name escapes me, died. Grandpa had a younger dog too, a pointing dog named Sport. Grandpa started taking Sport hunting with him.

The dog loved hunting and learned to track game fast. Grandpa was surprised how fast the dog learned his job but he had one problem, he would chew on the game after he retrieved it. Sport had a bouncy lilt in his step as he would proudly bring the bird back every time but not only would he maul the bird some, but he would challenge Grandpa when he tried to remove the bird from the dog's mouth. Usually the bird was still edible, and Grandpa knew that Sport was just being playful, but Grandpa didn't like it.

A couple of months passed when one day Grandpa and Sport went hunting. It was a bad day. There wasn't a bird in sight. For hours they worked the field until, finally, Sport froze. Grandpa could not see the bird in the brush but Sport could. Grandpa quietly spoke the flush command, "hup." Sport put his nose on the bird and out it flew, a big beautiful pheasant. The bird flew away fast, Grandpa's first shot missed, the bird got farther away, a second shot and the bird went down. Like a rocket Sport ran for the bird, jumping the small brush and dodging the bushes until he was near the bird. He sniffed around a bit and there it was. Sport took the bird in his mouth and turned to bring it back to Grandpa.

All the way back during the dog's casual and slow return Grandpa watched as Sport chewed the bird. Sport finally arrived in front of Grandpa all happy and proud of himself, the bird's blood dripping from the dog's mouth. Grandpa bent over, patted him on the head, and took the bird from his mouth. As he stood back up, Grandpa dropped the bird behind himself, lowered the barrel of his shotgun between Sport's eyes, and blew the dog's head off.

I believe that cruelty to animals is a sin. I eat meat but I believe that when we slaughter an animal for food we should make the execution as swift and painless as possible. That's what I believe. It is not government's job to limit our freedom, even if that freedom means that some dogs suffer and die. And it is not my job to force my beliefs on other people.

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