Hearing about his injury, I asked Matt if Vick had broken his neck. After hearing the response "no", I absentmindedly looked at Charlotte and cried:
"DAMMIT, Charlotte! We wanted him to break his neck!"
I look at Charlotte whose ears are now perked up, as she tilts her head
to the left as if she is confused, with her wagging tail, and such
loving eyes, and I silently think to myself:
Actually, Charlotte wouldn't wish a single bad thing on anyone.
Even Michael Vick.
I look at Charlotte and see the most sweet-natured, most forgiving, most benevolent, delicate, and most loving soul I have ever known. She is everything I wish I could be.
I sat in my kitchen questioning my character. I mean, LET'S BE REAL: I truly, honestly, 100%, without any doubt HATE Michael Vick.
And "HATE" is a very strong word. Very rarely do I even slightly dislike people. My strong detest for Vick probably comes as no surprise to you. I've been pretty persistent displaying my feelings of him since the football season started. And as someone who even doesn't have a strong liking for football or any NFL team in particular, I purposely watched and cheered on all of the Steeler's opposing teams.
As time went on, I got tagged in numerous posts from friends with some variation of this:
Which let me just say: That dog is adorable. And I absolutely love the chew toy. But after getting tagged in this photo over five times, I started to question things.
In one of my posts, someone commented "Give the guy a break. He paid his debt, and lost everything."
My blood boiled reading his comment, and I could not imagine how anyone could forgive him. But then again ---
Did he truly understand what Michael Vick really did???
Hint: Definitely not this
Which is why I am writing these posts. Five total.
A few things:
- I know the Michael Vick case happened several years ago, but my (embarrassingly so) lack of knowledge in news and media and recent (proud) strong love of pit bulls convinced me to write this.
- This is going to be a long series. I have spent months doing research for this alone. I've read a countless amount of articles, studied the investigation, the court cases, followed up on each dog, watched videos, and read books. I am going to try my best to keep this short (we'll see how that goes), but also spread light on what (I think) several people don't know about Michael Vick, and dog fighting in general. Plan to spend an hour total reading all five (yes, I timed it). It took me about about a month to write. Even if you have to read each post in portions- over a couple days - I beg you to read them all in their entirety.
- I read (and will share) a ton of information from Jim Gorant's "The Lost Dogs". I highly recommended reading it, and will happily share my copy to anyone who asks (as long as they ignore the yellow highlights).
- "Viewer discretion is advised" I'll go ahead and say these posts are probably rated "R" - if not, definitely "PG-13" And while yes, some of the images and stories are going to be hard to see, I fully believe we owe it to these dogs/victims to continue reading, so we can actually know what truly happened at 1915 Moonlight Rd. in Surry County.
- Lastly, if this series touches your heart in any way, please consider advocating for pit bulls and against dog fighting. After all, it is #pitbullawarenessmonth
And a few facts (from The Lost Dogs):
- Dogs can detect odors 100 million times more faint than people can.
- They can hear sounds at a broader range of frequencies than humans, and they can hear them from four times as far away.
- Dogs can hear a heartbeat from a distance of five feet, which gives them insight into the mood and disposition of the people and animals they come in contact with.
- When they are extremely scared, dogs secrete a powerful musk that other dogs can smell from great distances.
- Studies have shown that if two dogs [or mammals] are placed side by side in boxes and the first one is given electric shocks, just by listening to the suffering, the second one produces identical brain waves and nervous system activity. The trauma isn't limited only to the animal that's experiences the pain.
"None of the dogs know what is happening around them, but they do know something isn't right. They've seen things they are not supposed to see. They've heard terrifying sounds and they've smelled fear and pain drifting in the air."
Put yourself in #49's shoes (part of which is an excerpt from Little Red's story in The Lost Dogs. I'll share more on #49 in Part 5):
It's been three days since you've eaten. You sit outside in the
Virginia summer heat with little water and zero relief from the
scorching sun above. In the distance, you can hear torture. You can
smell the blood and carcasses. But all you can see and know are the others
chained around you.
Sometimes a butterfly will come by, and you'll entertain yourself by
trying to catch it. Other times, you'll pat around a rock or even chew
on it, but that's the only "fun" or "entertainment" you have ever known.
Suddenly, you hear a familiar truck. You quickly sit up and see the
man walking towards you.
Excitement rushes through your veins at the thought of food, but suddenly, you are paralyzed with fear when you notice his demeanor.
Excitement rushes through your veins at the thought of food, but suddenly, you are paralyzed with fear when you notice his demeanor.
He picks you up and carries you down the path. New scents surround
you, as you look at the other dogs chained and jumping in your
direction. The sounds of barks and yelps terrify you, as you look up at
the scary man whose arms you lie in.
You enter a two story building and the man pulls on a rope from the
ceiling - lowering a hidden staircase. He carries you up the stairs, and
you look around at the unknown surroundings.
"The smells are overwhelming. There have been many people here, many
dogs. The remnants of sweat and blood and urine and fear mix in the air,
and [your] insides churn with anxiety and concern.
[You] hear barking from outside the shed, and in a moment there are
noises downstairs. Another man emerges from the staircase carrying
another dog. [You] do not recognize this dog, but like [you], it's a
female and about 18 months old.
The man places [you] onto the carpet and the other dog is placed on
the carpet on the opposite side of [you]. Both [you and the other] dog sniff the air. [You] lick your
snout and shift your weight from side to side. Instincively, [you] are
drawn toward her, but the men get in between the two of [you]....
...People begin to shout. The man puts his hand on [you] and shoves
you back. He places his hand on [your] muzzle and shakes [your] face
from side to side. [You] remember all the days you spent chained up in
the clearing, face to face with other dogs [you] could not quite get to.
Frustration and fear and anger and the instinctive need to defend
[your] territory begin to stir within you. Your stomach turns with
hunger. The men's voices mix with the riot of smells. The dogs outside
begin to bark again. The other dog lets out a growl, her own fear and
aggression surging." ...
..."[You're] on a collision course with each other and a battle that
can only end with teeth and blood and pain. It's only a few steps across
the ring, but at the last minute, [both of you] veer to the side, so
you don't quite meet nose to nose. Instead you both circle to the right,
keeping an eye on each other and passing so close that [you] bump."...
..."[You] feel something pull at [your] neck and suddenly [you're]
being propelled backward across the rectangle. The man is yelling at
[you].... The men now place [you] and the other dog face-to-face and
hold [you] there. [You] both bark and struggle but the men keep forcing
[you] together. Soon, the frustration and anger and proximity do their
job," and the other dog lunges towards you.
You are exhausted and terrified, but the hunger and desire to please
your master drive your forward. You bite, wrestle, and fight for hours
on end. Blood covers the carpet, and eventually, the other dog succumbs
to her wounds. The fight is over.
Covered in blood and with several wounds yourself, you look at the
man for reassurance. He picks you up and carries you to a table where
your bandaged and given a shot of steroids and pain meds. The other man
picks up your opponent and throws her down the flight of stairs. After
slowly walking down the steps towards her, he pulls out a gun and shoots
her in the head.
Months go by. Since the fight, you receive a daily meal - not much -
but enough to keep you going. Your ears and tail are docked and you
endure extreme daily exercise with bait dangled in front of you (for
persuasion to push your limits and to frustrate you even more), along
with daily steroid shots and doses of rat poison (to make your fur taste
bad to opponents), cocaine, and testosterone.
Over the next year, you are forced to fight in different locations
with different dogs. In between training and fighting, you are starved
to keep you motivated and aggressive. After surviving and winning most
battles, you've seen a fair share of your opponents get killed by their
masters following the fights. Your fear alone keeps you going.
One day, you are taken to a new shed - and without any pain medication - each one of 42 your teeth are pulled from your mouth. Following the extraction, you are carried to a stand: two steel poles mounted to the ends of a wooden platform with u-shaped pieces of curved metal at the top of each pole. You are strapped into the u-shape metal pieces: one around your belly and the other around your neck. You can't move. You cannot defend yourself.
You hear another dog approaching from behind you. Within minutes, the dog mounts you. You have no choice, but to unwillingly take it.
The rest of your life is spent getting raped over and over and over
again. Sometimes the male bites you out of his own aggression and fear.
In between your pregnancies, you are starved. Immediately after you give
birth, your babies are taken from you - and you are raped again.
You are forced to breed over and over until your body slowly starts to shut down.
^^^^ And yet, SHE, "the vicious fighting dog", is the one who was considered a "monster" ??? ^^^^
Click here to read part two
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