Michael Vick Is A Hideous Asshole

Wow. Just when we thought the Michael Vick story was coming to a close and he might eek out of it without being charged, he instead is indicted on three counts involving illegal dog fighting.

What is most amazing are the details that are coming out now. In case you've missed the basic story, a quick summary:

• Michael Vick's cousin, Davon Boddie, was arrested for having drugs in his car. A search warrant was executed on his home address, a house owned by Vick in Surry, Virginia.
• Authorities seized 66 dogs, mostly pit bulls, as well as canine drugs and equipment used for dog fighting.
• Authorities then learn the property is owned by Michael Vick, who promptly denies ever visiting the home, then says he 'rarely' visited the property and wasn't aware of any illegal activities on the property.
• Local prosecutors and police are upset when the feds move in and take over the investigation. The feds wait until a second search warrant issued by a local judge expires without being served and then serve their own. They do a complete search of the property and find the remains of dogs buried on the property, along with more evidence of dog fighting.
• Witnesses start to step forward at this point and claim Vick not only was aware of what was occurring on the property, but that he attended dog fights on the property and other locations.
• Feds finally announce dogfighting occurred on the property in documents filed in Richmond last week. Vick was not named in the documents, leaving many to speculate he would not be charged.
• Feds contend fights ended when the losing dog died or in some cases was electrocuted, hanged, drowned, shot, or sometimes slamming them to the ground.
• Dogs were often not fed to make them "more hungry for the other dog."
• Investigators found the graves of seven pit bulls killed by members of "Bad Newz Kennels" after testing if the dogs would be good fighters. Informants say up to 30 graves may be on the property.
  

That was a week ago. Late yesterday the other shoe finally dropped when Vick and three others were charged with "competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for dog fighting, and conducting the enterprise across state lines." The 18 page federal indictment says Vick began the dogfighting operation in early 2001, his rookie year in the NFL. If convicted, Vick and the others could face up to 6 years in prison, $350,000 in fines and restitution.

Now for some very damning evidence. Vick has gone silent as of late, but his last comments were continuing to deny any involvement in dog fighting and that he rarely was at the property.

The kennel named by the feds a week ago in court documents as having organized the fights is Bad Newz Kennels, based in Newport News. Vick's hometown is Newport News. On his official website he lists his hometown as Newport News, "a.k.a. BadNewz." According to court documents, "members of Bad Newz Kennels also sponsored fights in other parts of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, and other states."

Vick's kennel website, VicksK9Kennels.com (which has been shuttered), was registered by a fellow named Brian Alston, who also created Michael Vick's official website, michaelvick.com. That's according to a Who Is search, which conveniently has been changed in the last week. The companies' address was listed as Moonlight Road in Suffolk, which doesn't exist. Moonlight Road in Surry is the address of Vick's property in question, which he claims he 'rarely' visited but somehow runs a kennel at that physical location. Before Vick's K9 Kennels website was shut down it had photo's of Michael Vick posing with large dogs, including pit bulls, which were all for sale. Those photo's are now gone as well.

Now a video has surfaced that was taken by a Virginia Beach television station in 2003, while Vick's home was being built. The video, taken from a news chopper after complaints from neighbors about the dogs, shows 3 outbuildings that feds say held some of the dogs. It clearly shows dogs were on the property as far back as four years ago. A construction worker who helped build the house told the station Vick came to the property regularly during construction, and that there were at least 40 dogs on the property at that time, as well as some equipment associated with dog fighting.

The documents for the indictment state that in 2003 a dog owned by Bad Newz Kennels lost a fight and one of the other defendants discussed the dog's condition with Vick, then electrocuted the dog.

The documents also say in 2003 Vick handed a bag containing $23,000 in cash to the owner of two dogs who had defeated two dogs owned by Bad Newz Kennels.

Virginia law on dogfighting says it is a felony for anyone having dogfighting "under their control," or to "aid and abet any such act." It's hard to believe Vick doesn't qualify for aiding at abetting, at the least. But Vick allegedly held fights on his property, discussed the subsequent murder of a losing dog, handed cash to winners of dog fights, and has ties to the kennel named as organizing the fights. That sounds like a lot more than aiding and abetting to me.

If Vick were found guilty and sentenced to the maximum penalty, he would only get six years. He would likely serve half of that. If the only thing that happens to him is losing his career and spending three years in prison, that's not enough. The man (and his associates) is a world-class scumbag. His sponsors should drop him like a rock in the next 24 hours, and the NFL doesn't need to wait for him to be convicted.

This is a guy who had it all from the moment he signed his first NFL contract. He was an instant millionaire and the star of a great city. He had fame and fortune but still decided he wanted to raise dogs for fighting. How much money could he have made in 6 years from dogfighting? A few hundred thousand dollars, tops? That's nothing compared to his NFL salary. In 2005 Vick signed a 10 year, $130 million contract that guaranteed him $37 million even if he were cut. That is still the richest contract in NFL history. However, it is in addition to the 6 year, $62 million dollar record rookie contract he signed in 2001. He didn't need the cash. He just felt the need to force animals to destroy each other, bite by bite, for amusement until he and his crew finally decided if they would kill weak dogs whose only crime was losing.

Normally the NFL always say they need to wait until someone is convicted of a crime to punish them, but that's not true, they suspend players left and right who are only arrested. The Chicago Bears released Tank Johnson after he was arrested for suspicion of drunk driving. Those charges would later be dropped when the blood tests showed Johnson was just under the legal limit, so there is a precedent for quick action. I doubt the NFL or the Atlanta Hawks want this story hanging over their heads every single day of this coming season. Release the asshole now. Void his contract and make him pay back his signing bonus for violating the good citizen terms included in every sports contract.

All we need to know about Vick's character can be summed up from one sentence near the end of the 18 page indictment:

"In or about April of 2007, Peace, Phillips and Vick executed approximately eight dogs that did not perform well in 'testing' sessions at 1915 Moonlight Road by various methods, including hanging, drowning and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground."

UPDATE: We've set up some links so you can help get Vick fired.

Sources:
International Herald Tribune
Yahoo Sports
It's El Queso Grande! 1 and 2Publish Post
Sports Illustrated