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It's a dog's life - without one
Paul Sheehan
September 3, 2007
THEY scratch, fart, fidget, drool, lick their genitals,
defecate and urinate in public, often make too much
noise, and sometimes bite people. Even so, we love
them because they represent qualities we most
admire but often find lacking elsewhere - loyalty,
enthusiasm, innocence, honesty and love.
We may be carnivores, we may be rapacious
consumers of other species, but don't mess with
dogs. Dogs are different. They are integral to who we
think we are as a society. That's why they are
constantly used in advertising, surely the highest
compliment.
This special place that dogs have in society is the
backdrop to a drama now unfolding that will soon
become the most expensive act of animal cruelty
ever committed by one person. One famous
sportsman, Michael Vick, stands to lose more than
Illustration: Michael Mucci
$100 million because he is a dog killer. To appreciate
the scale and gravity of Vick's descent from public grace, take the current free-fall of rugby league
legend Andrew "Joey" Johns and magnify it by a hundred.
Until last week, Vick was one of the highest paid football players in the world, with a 10-year
contract valued at $US130 million ($165 million) as the quarterback and marquee player of the
Atlanta Falcons American football team. All that ended when US federal law enforcement authorities
released an 11-page indictment, to which Vick has pleaded guilty. The indictment states that in April
this year Vick participated in the killings of up to eight dogs "by various methods, including hanging,
drowning and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground".
The dogs, all pit bulls, were killed because they were not vicious or strong enough to participate in
illegal dogfights organised by Vick and his three co-accused. Breeding, training, culling and fighting
dogs made up the business activities of a company Vick owned called Bad Newz Kennels.
The 10-page summary of allegations attached to the federal indictment makes for morbidly
compelling reading about the events which took place at 1915 Moonlight Road, a property Vick owns
in rural Virginia. Bad Newz Kennels had been running for five years. When investigators raided the
property they found 54 pit bulls in cages. They would later find many graves.
The events which led to the exposure of Vick's secret life are described on page nine of the
summary: "In April … Purnell Peace, Quanis Phillips and Michael Vick agreed to the killing of
approximately six-eight dogs that did not perform well in 'testing' sessions at 1915 Moonlight Road.
All of those dogs were killed by various methods, including hanging and drowning."
9/6/2007 4:33 PM
It's a dog's life - without one - Opinion - smh.com.au
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Media reports of illegal dogfights and illegal betting prompted police to raid 1915 Moonlight Road.
After that, Vick began to lie about his involvement in dogfighting and gambling. He lied to his coach,
to the team's ownership and to the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). Not until his
lawyers were confronted by the overwhelming amount of evidence against Vick in the federal
indictment did he begin to tell at least part of the truth. He signed a plea bargain admitting guilt. He
turned state's witness. Last week he held a nationally televised press conference at which he
apologised, expressed his shame, and renounced dogfighting.
Vick will be sentenced on December 10. He will go to jail. He will receive a heavy fine. When the new
NFL season starts this Saturday, he won't be there. He has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
The $US71 million in salary for the remaining seven years of his contract has been suspended. He
has lost all endorsement contracts. The Atlanta Falcons will seek reimbursement for up to $US22
million of his signing bonus.
Polls show that most American sports fans never want to see him on a football field again. All this
even though he has not been convicted of any violent crime against another human being, nor any
involvement in narcotics. Rather, Vick's years in the violent underground world of dogfighting
represented an affront to the special place dogs hold in society.
What does it mean, then, that this special place is being eroded by the pressures of modern life? In
Australia, keeping dogs as companions is in serious decline. Earlier this year, a study commissioned
by the Australian Companion Animals Council found a significant decline in the dog population. In
2000, Australians kept 4 million dogs as companions. By this year, the number had dropped to 2.75
million, a plunge of 31 per cent. (Cat numbers also declined over the same period, from 3.2 million
to 2.3 million, a fall of 28 per cent.)
Experts attributed the sharp decline to children spending less time playing outdoors and much more
time playing video games, and watching TV and the internet. One byproduct of this behavioural shift
has been a surge in childhood obesity. Another byproduct, it appears, has been a decline in the role
that companion animals, especially dogs, occupy in family life.
Researching this subject, it was fascinating to find the many scholarly studies which measured
positive roles that companion animals play in social life, with dogs at the forefront. Various studies
have concluded that animal owners have lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, higher
survival rates after serious illness, and suffer less from loneliness or depression. A number of studies
have concluded that companion animals tend to enhance family life.
If dogs are being pushed aside by the accelerating pace of modern life - more technology, less time
- if we have less time for the altruism required to keep a dog exercised and engaged, then we are in
danger of losing a better part of who we collectively are.
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Copyright © 2007. The Sydney Morning Herald.
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