I am probably kicking a hornets nest when I say this, but I think many people in this world have their priorities messed up. No, I don't think that dog fighting should be legal, but come on people, they are dogs. The events and trials of humans in this world should shadow the actions by Vick without a doubt, but still every day its one of the first things you see on tv. There are miners trapped in a mountain, floods, tornados, soldiers dying, and hundreds of other events, and still the first thing you see on tv is about Michael Vick and dog fighting.
Those were dogs bred to do a job that they loved. Their goal in life was to fight other dogs. What is interesting is that you see nice quiet dogs being taken from Vick's property and people think hooray they are saved, but the vast majority of those dogs have to be put down or killed because the aren't adoptable. The dogs that Vick killed weren't adoptable, and realistically there were two options, they be put down or they live tied to a very large chain with no other animal contact for the rest of their lives.
Also, the media has made a huge deal about rape stands. Some female fighting dogs will try to fight a male dog even if she is ready to breed because that's all they want to do. The stand keeps them restrained so they can't fight the male dog. To me there doesn't seem to be too much difference between a rape stand and a squeeze chute being used to restrain cows to breed them, but to us a squeeze chute is acceptable.
Dogs that are used for pit fighting get hurt and sometimes killed and that makes it so horrible to some. Anyone ever shoot a big boar coon out of a tree that isn't dead to a single dog? The dog will be bleeding and in pain before its over. Coon hunting is an accepted practice though. Anyone ever have a dog hurt or killed by hunting mountain lions, bears, wolves, or boars. I am sure some have, but again, accepted practices. Now I don't enjoy animals suffering or in pain, but I just wanted to point out that other dogs bred for different reasons die too doing what they love.
Now they want to put Vick away for years. Leonard Little started for the St. Louis Rams, and in 1998 he was driving drunk and killed a woman who was a mother and a wife. He got 90 days in a half way house, 1000 hours community service and 4 years probation. Less than 16 months later he was playing in the super bowl. He served less than what Vick will and Little killed another human. Then he turns around and a couple years later gets charged with another DUI. He just recently signed another contract with the rams, yet no ruckus made by the public.
Don't get me wrong, dog fighting should be illegal. Making it as big of a deal as it is though with everything else that is affecting humans in this world, it's ridiculous.