Poor Ole Michael Vick!

An essay on the Michael Vick case related to the death of Susan Gutweiler who was killed in an automobile accident. NFL player Leonard Little, was driving drunk and smashed into the Gutweiler car.

I am sure Michael Vick feels he was swooped up in a suddenly appearing tornado and whisked away away into a world of catastrophe including accusations of dog fighting and gambling. Ban Vick for life from the NF! People wanted his hide. The fire was burning out of control and was building faster than a wildfire in California. Let us just sentence him to life watching Lassie reruns. That will torture him! The dog fighter and the killer of animals.

But wait! I am going to throw a real wrench into your garage. What about Leonard Little? Did he not kill a woman while under the influence? Susan Gutwieler was the victim. Little ran a stop light and slammed broadside into her car. She lived for twelve hours before dying. She was 47. Where was the outrage over this incident? By the way, Leonard Little is an NFL player just like Vick. Surely, Little would spend lots of time in jail and the NFL would come down hard on this dastardly dead. Not the case!

After copping to a plea of involuntary manslaughter, he was given a 90-day sentence in the city police workforce, four years probation and 1,000 hours of community service. The NFL suspended him for eight games in 1999, and in 2002 the St. Louis Rams re-worked Little's contract, signing him to a five-year, $17.5 million deal. Michael gambled on dogs fighting. He did not kill a human like Little! No one clamored for Little to be banned for life from the NFL. He was not raked raw by the media and was not made an example. He just went back to driving and playing his beloved football. Since the above occurrence, Leonard Little has been stopped again for driving under the influence. Once again I will say, where is the outcry? The outcry for justice is non-existent!

Michael Vick should not have been fighting or betting on dogs. I despise the activity and I definitely do not believe it is sport, as some believe. I do believe he is getting mauled by our government not especially for dog fighting, but for gambling. Our g-men and g-women really get excited with the possibility of illegal gambling. If our government was interested in stopping stupid activities, they would have stopped cock fighting years ago!

I never went to a dog fight, but I have been to cock fights. If you are not acquainted with cock fighting, let me tell you, it is basically the same. Chickens fight to the death while people bet on the matches (more illegal gambling). Law authorities raid cock fights to break up the gambling, but what about saving the cocks? In Louisiana, it is legal to stage cock fights. Yep, they are still legal!

So you may learn about cock fighting, let me explain the intricacies. Dogs crush each other using their mouths. Cocks are armed with a different type weapon. Yes, they have weapons! These are gaffs. Long, slender metal blades that resemble swords are attached to each leg of the cock. When the cocks jump into the air to spur each other, they are now spurring with knife sharp gaffs. They eventually knife one another to death. You bet on a certain cock to kill the other, thus winning your bet. It is brutal! Where is the outcry over this sport?

I had the privilege of hearing an animal psychologist testify about dog attacks. He described them like sharks during a feeding frenzy. He explained how dogs will work into frenzies, by feeding off the energy each dog developed as they became more ravenous. As you watched the tapes of dog fights you see dogs that have been trained or bred to kill, if not one another in the dog ring, it could be by attacking other animals which include humans. Recently, a Pit Bull went into a ladies home and attacked her. The records of Pit Bull attacks on humans and pets are enormous.

In the early years of the Nineteen Eighty's, I served on a jury trial hearing a case of seven Pit Bull dogs attacking and killing a 7 year old boy. Having to look at the photos of the dead child, with all the bite marks was agonizing. The attorney passed the jeans and shoes of the child around to the jury. I looked at his little shoes loaded with bite impression and you could almost feel the fright and pain he endured before passing away. During the trial, I learned a lot about Pit Bull dogs. I will say they are a breed I never wish to include as pets or be around. They are extremely dangerous dogs!

When I think of Michael Vick or others who raise and fight dogs or cocks, my thoughts go back to that trial. If the supporters of dog fighting could hold shoes or jeans of the little boy and look at the pictures of the child eaten alive, maybe they would stop promoting Pit Bulls.

As for the butchering by the media, and the cry for blood, we should take a look at the death of Susan Gutweiler and decide more important matters.

About the author: David C. Brown holds a Master of Education from Texas A@M University in College Station, Texas and a Bachelor of Science in Education from Midwestern State in Wichita Falls, Texas. He writes about sports and muscle building at http://www.sportsjock.mobi and http://www.musclebuilding-supplements.com.