Not a ‘sport’ but an act of incredile barbarism

The Michael Vick saga has brought new attention and greater dimension to the barbaric activity of dogfighting.

Whether Vick is guilty of being involved in this will be determined by a federal jury, if the case actually goes to trial. But someone did and we should hope the guilty parties are brought to justice.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Falcons have a terrible public relations problem on their hands, given this case and other events that have surrounded their start quarterback.

We choose in this space not even to refer to this as an illicit “sport.” Sport implies some degree of humanity and even “sportsmanship.” Thus we use words like criminal activity, inhumanity, thug mentality or whatever else can depict such a low life form to perpetuate horrendous acts toward animals.

In past crime reports locally, we have noted the theft of dogs, some of them pitt bulldogs which are the key ingredients for the subhuman activity. It has long been suggested by some that these dogs are stolen for this criminal market and that perhaps other breeds are stolen and used as bait in the training process.

Various reports, following the Vick indictment, indicated that dogfighting goes on a lot in this country and perhaps even close at home here.

The Moultrie Observer invites any input the public might share on this subject, and we encourage anyone who has information relative to this barbaric activity to provide it to this newspaper, to local authorities, or both.

We leave you with these famous quotes:

“I have always felt that the way we treat animals is a pretty good indicator of the compassion we are capable of for the human race.” — actress Ali McGraw

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Gandhi (1869-1948)