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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS

MONTH: October 2007

Vick case has impact across the U.S.

 

CINCINNATI, NORFOLK, RICHMOND--The National Football League on September 29, 2007 narrowly avoided embarrassment in yet another instance of violence against animals when Paul Brown Stadium Limited withdrew a request to the city of Cincinnati to shoot pigeons prior to Cincinnati Bengals home games.

Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney had authorized the shooting, wrote Mark Curnutte of the Cincinnati Inquirer, "but only after other methods had been tried. PETA representatives jumped on the issue, urging mayor Mark Mallory to stop any bird killings. They said they would help stadium officials with ways to get rid of the pigeons."

The Cincinnati pigeon issue blew up soon after PETA reaped a publicity harvest from the aftermath of the plea bargain conviction of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for felony conspiracy in connection with dogfighting.

Due to be sentenced on December 10, hoping to avoid a potential five-year prison term that could end his football career, Vick on September 18 took an eight-hour PETA course on "Developing empathy for animals," listening to six speakers and eating a vegetarian sandwich for lunch.

"At the end of the class, Vick took home study materials and returned another day to take a test," recounted Dave Forster of the Virginian-Pilot. "PETA wouldn't release his score, but said he passed."
Vick is also facing two dogfighting charges under Virginia law.

The Vick case sentencing of most concern to animal advocates, based on calls and e-mails to national animal advocacy organizations, appears to be the fate of the 53 dogs seized from his property when the case developed in April 2007.

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson ruled in Richmond on October 16 that the surviving 48 dogs should all be sterilized and microchipped for identification, and appointed Valparaiso University law professor Rebecca J. Huss to be their guardian and special master.

"My goal, and the court's goal, is to find the best possible future for the dogs and the humans and other animals with whom those dogs would come in contact," said Huss in a prepared statement.
Four dogs recovered from the Vick property died before the hearing. One was ordered euthanized at recommendation of behaviorists from the American SPCA and the west coast pit bull terrier advocacy and rescue group Bad Rap.

The effort to save the Vick dogs, seized under federal jurisdiction, is consistent with a Virginia law which prohibits killing impounded dogs solely based on their breed. Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge Thomas D. Horne on October 15, 2007 issued an injunction under that law against the Loudoun County Department of Animal Care and Control, at the request of the Animal Rescue League of Tidewater and Norfolk resident Ron Litz, who had sued seeking to force the shelter to allow pit bull terriers to be adopted.

"The county continues to deny pit bull adoptions," wrote Samantha Bartram of the Leesburg Today, "but pit bulls who pass temperament tests are deemed eligible to transfer to outside shelters if space is available."

There is a further concern involving the Vick dogs. Sterilization substantially lowered their value, since they could no longer be used as breeding stock, but they are reputedly from top-ranked fighting lineage, and the Vick association could give them street cachet.

Some of the Vick dogs are rumored to be of the same lineage as 50 pit bulls seized in April 2004 from David Tant, formerly of Charleston County, South Carolina. Tant was sentenced in December 2004 to serve 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to 41 counts of dogfighting and assault and battery. He was arrested after a surveyor stumbled into a trip-wire on his property set to deter possible dog thieves, and was wounded by a shotgun blast.

The Vick case broke in part because of tips gathered by law enforcement while investigating the murder of alleged dogfighter Thomas Weigner Jr., 27, on August 2, 2006 at his home in Liberty County, Texas.

About 285 pit bulls seized from the Weigner premises were either judged to be too dangerous to be rehabilitated as pets, or died in custody from diseases contracted at the Weigner kennels.

An unknown number of dogs were trucked off the property by persons unknown between the killing and the impoundment.

Weigner was shot in front of his wife, three children, and parents, who were reportedly bound by masked intruders.

"Though investigators remain tight-lipped about the progress of the probe," wrote Cindy Horswell of the Houston Chronicle on October 21, 2007, "an affidavit filed for a search warrant in Montgomery County has named William David Townsend Jr. of Willis as a suspect. A recent search of Townsend's home--fortified with seven rifles, two shotguns and an unarmed grenade--led to the discovery of about 10 pit bulls and a laundry list of illegal drugs, authorities said. Townsend is being held without bail in the Montgomery County Jail on aggravated drug possession, delivery and money laundering charges."

According to Horswell, "Authorities believe the intruders were searching for $160,000 won in a bet on a dog fight in Brazoria County."

An indirect spin-off from the Vick case, Missouri Humane Society director of rescue and investigations Tim Rickey indicated to Kim Bell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was the October 22, 2007 arrest of three men and seizure of 26 dogs in the largest Missouri dogfighting impoundment in recent memory.

Rickey told Bell that the Vick case had resulted in more people calling in tips about suspected dogfights and dogfighting operations.

The Humane Society of the United States is reinforcing the trend by offering $5,000 rewards for information "leading to the arrest and prosecution of any person involved in illegal animal fighting," HSUS announced on October 19.

Twin Falls Times-News writer Andrea Gates on October 20, 2007 hinted that the Vick case has also encouraged several Idaho legislators to seek increased penalties for dogfighting. Idaho and Wyoming are the last two states in which dogfighting is not a felony.