Why I Support Michael Vick

Why I Support Michael Vick

If you don’t know, former quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons Michael Vick was arrested and imprisoned until at least 2010 for organizing and participating in dog fighting. I love dogs, I have one, I hate the idea of dogfighting as a spectator sport, but I find it lawfully improper to arrest and imprison a man on that grounds for several reasons irrespective of my own personal tastes.

The main idea is that Vick should not be legally punished for what most people find distasteful, so long as he confines his actions to his own property and doesn't violate anyone's rights. The key feature of the argument is that dogs don't have legal rights. We buy and sell them as a commodity between each other. If pups had rights, then there would be a legal issue - Vick maximizing his freedom in that way would have encroached and harmed the freedom of another, but this is a despondent argument. If dogs are entitled to rights, pet birds, & cats too? What about the genocide of the meat market, and how veal is manufactured using chained baby cows. A critique focusing on animals and conceptions of ‘humanity’ like this is extremely, extremely subjective, arbitrary, and capricious. If we’re to construct a legal vision of appropriate behavior vis-à-vis animals and “humanity” it’s going to be legally erratic and discriminatory.

Distasteful? Yes. Legally punishable? No. For those worrying about justice, the publicity of his actions and their exposure onto public consciousness would have earned him a terminated contract, zero endorsement deals, incredible social repercussions, tainted his legacy and extremely limited his options for the stigma of having dogs fight until they kill each other.

If people think animals deserve to be treated kindly, terrific - Share your ideas - 95% of Americans already hate it - that should make the job easier for you. It's not like federal anti-dogfighting laws are what’s keeping our dogs safe, it’s the uncoerced consensual agreement between most of us that dogfighting is isn't desirable, not federal laws.