Did anyone before or after Michael Vick did his time get punished for

[babylonsister]

Poll question: Did anyone before or after Michael Vick did his time get punished for

running dog fights and is it now happening under the radar?

[BlooInBloo]

1. There was US dogfighting before, during, and after Vick's...

All of it disgusting. I would guess that it's a pretty low-prosecution crime, but I don't have any stats on that.

[babylonsister]

2. Do you think he was made an example of something that still

happens?

I equate it to cockfights, and that goes on all the time, too.

I've never seen either, don't want to, but that doesn't mean I'm not aware it's happening.

[BlooInBloo]

5. You gotta go to the more hick parts of the US to find it easily...

MS, LA, KY, Appalachia, etc.

But of course it still happens.

[Are_grits_groceries]

26. It happens everywhere.

Q. Is Dog Fighting More Prevalent in One Part of the Country?
No. Dog fighting has been reported in urban, suburban and rural settings in all regions of the country.

Fighters were traditionally attracted to states with weaker penalties for dog fighting and animal cruelty, many in the South—but laws continue to be made stronger throughout the country. As a result, this activity is no longer limited to any single area, but it is more likely to thrive wherever enforcement of anti-fighting laws is weak.

http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/dog-fighting/dog-fighting-faq.html

By saying that it only happens in select places, people minimize the problem.

Michael Vick also had other problems. He was involved in gambling and crossing state lines. The feds were threatening him with the RICO statutes. They carry much heavier sentences.

If someone has RICO problems mentioned, you can bet that they are trying to nail them and get much more time or trying to force a plea on a lesser sentence. RICO is now being used for a much wider variety of crimes than it was intended for when those laws were written.

[BlooInBloo]

27. "it only happens in select places" - Thankfully, I never said that.

[Are_grits_groceries]

28. Alrighty. I stand corrected on semantics.

"Hick parts" instead of select places. Is that any better?

[cherokeeprogressive]

3. Dog fighting will never end. I hate saying it, but it's true. n/t

[Amerigo Vespucci]

4. It simply provided Vick with the brand of "15 minutes of fame" that no one wants

He got caught, he was punished, he did his time. I seriously doubt that his incarceration accomplished anything in the way of deterring dog fighting operations. He was a celebrity, which placed a great big bulls-eye on his back. Law enforcement (and the media) love high-profile busts, and Vick was a high-profile bust.

It's a mindset. I have people in my neighborhood, punk-asses who drive muscle cars with earth-shaker stereos blasting rap music no matter what time of day...it's not unusual to hear one of their drive-bys at 2 or 3 in the morning. They wear the Oakland Raiders gear and have the shaved heads and shitty little goatees and live with their PARENTS, which pretty much negates the "gangsta" thing, but they are enamored with that damned MINDSET, and in their minds, they are GANGSTAS.

I don't know what Vick's mindset was before the bust, or after for that matter. He could be thinking about being a positive force in the world, or he could be sitting there wishing he were still orchestrating dog fights. Maybe he's become a Pavlov Dog himself, where he associates the pleasure he once experienced from his acts with the unpleasantness of watching his bank accounts dry up as he sat in a prison cell.

He knows, and we never will, because all we will ever know is what he chooses to tell us.

[babylonsister]

6. Yes, we will never know. But this guy went through the ringer for

something that more than likely continues. He might not have realized how bad this is/was at the time (everyone did it/betted/whatever), but I bet he does now.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

8. And the only difference between Vick and the guys who were never caught...

...is that they were never caught.

It's like Bernie Madoff and R. Allen Stanford. They got caught. Did that kill Ponzi schemes once and for all? Hell no.

[babylonsister]

16. Jeebus, you've thought about this way more than I have.

I think a man that spends that much time in prison, and loses millions of bucks because of it, isn't sittng around wondering how he can orchestrate another dog fight. I think he didn't know the ramifications of doing so.

And he already had his 15 minutes. Negative hours and days? Not so much.

[flvegan]

7. Mountain Swamp Kennels. Al White got 20 years.

Louisiana had a couple really good busts long before Vick.

I've worked a bit with a couple national organizations on dogfighting. There have been more dogfighting busts in the last two years than ever before.

Is it still happening? Yup. Are we hitting back a lot harder? Damn straight. This summer alone there have been more than 15 busts, including an 8 state raid that was the biggest dogfighting bust in history.

Under the radar? Yeah, you'll always have wanna-be gangstas and douchebag hillbilly rednecks that will want to participate. But it's now a felony in every state, so be really careful fuckos. If you fight dogs, lots of folks looking for you now. There's money on your heads. Lots of money.

[babylonsister]

9. Good, and thanks. Sounds like Vick did some good. Or woke some

folks up.

[flvegan]

11. The only real good Vick did was shine a light on the ability to rehab fighting dogs.

I've been doing it for a long time, but I could've never gotten his publicity. So...thanks Mike, you dumbass.

[babylonsister]

13. How about the ability to get caught and do time for it? Not your life,

but he paid the price, unlike all the lowlife backwater people who continue to fight dogs.

[flvegan]

14. Before Vick it was already a felony in, I believe 49 states.

The last one was in legistlation before the bust. The ability was already there. And he didn't pay a real price. He got a couple years for racketeering on top of the dogfighting, animal cruelty...hell, I testified at a recent case here in Tampa where the owners of a dog stopped feeding him. He's alive and they got convicted of animal cruelty and are each facing 5 years, of which as I understand it, they'll get most of it. Him? Slap on the wrist.

[babylonsister]

15. What bigger price could he have paid? Seriously.

Can anyone ever let it go that he committed a crime, paid for it, and now might have the opportunity to repair his life?

No compassion?

[flvegan]

17. Compassion? Really?

If he had served a proper term for what he did, fine. I'm a firm believer in appropriate punishment. Dogfighters shouldn't get two years. Rapists shouldn't get 5 years. Murderers shouldn't get 10 years.

Compassion? Ask the dogs he tortured about that. Compassion for the victims, not the crim.

And as someone that rescues abused and fighting dogs, you're never going to wring shits worth of sympathy for Vick out of me.

Wah, he lost some money and a couple years. Wah.

[babylonsister]

18. OK.

He was made an example, too, did his time, and he's now free.

Whether you like it or not.

And I love dogs. But let me know when you find compassion for people.

There's nothing he could ever do that would satisfy you.

That's sad.

[flvegan]

19. Seriously, when I find compassion for people?

You don't fucking know me, and you have no fucking clue what I've done for people. I respected you here right up until this post.

Piss off, dogfighting apologist.

[babylonsister]

20. Yea, there's that compassion! I knew you had it in ya!

If you have it, you surely aren't showing it.

[flvegan]

21. Have another drink.

Looks real good on you.

[babylonsister]

22. Insults? How interesting. And this makes you look good? Very compassionate.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6315206

[flvegan]

23. Just stooping to your level, sister.

[babylonsister]

30. You insult me because we have a difference of opinion?

I hear you loud and clear.

[LeftyMom]

24. Fail.

If you don't know who you're talking about STFU.

[babylonsister]

29. Now I need you to approve of my opinion? I don't think so.

:eyes:

[LeftyMom]

31. Unlike you, I actually know the person you're insulting.

You could not possibly be more wrong. Now get your head out of your ass and back the fuck down.

[northzax]

10. Of course it still happens

I once ended up at a dogfight, not a pleasant experience. But then, as you note, it is a serious crime. Look at Mike Vick who got 2 years for it, while Donte Stallworth got 30 days for killing a human with his Bentley. What kind of a world do we live in where causing the death of an innocent dog is a worse crime than causing the death of an innocent human?

[flvegan]

12. You ended up at a dogfight and stayed to watch it?

[northzax]

25. Not by choice

It was a complicated situation, leaving wasn't really an option.