Thoughts on Michael Vick

I’m still processing and the dogs are still healing (those who survived) but Michael Vick is now out of prison.

Part of me hates him and will always hate him and thinks he deserves nothing.

Part of me does see the merit in The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) having Vick work with them to reach youth who might become involved in dog fighting. Oddly enough my boyfriend brought up that possibility when I was horrified at the idea of PETA collaborating with Vick. I have other issues with PETA though (n.b. they’re not really into rescuing pets–they wanted all the dogs put down without evaluation).

Then there’s the part of me that has always believed that a man can change if he so wants and that we need to allow for the possibility of change and also forgive past sins.

I don’t know how to forgive someone for being so hateful toward animals. Bad Rap had this video from CNN:

and you can see what a sweet dog Jhumpa is.

I guess if her new mom can support Vick having his own second chance, I can, too.

I’ll support him working with HSUS as long as he acts sincere and doesn’t treat it just like a PR stunt. I will not support the NFL hiring him back. Part of why he will be effective with those kids is because they will see that dog fighting does not fit into a high rolling lifestyle. That, instead, dog fighting leads to losing your dreams, going to jail, and spending the rest of your life trying to atone for your evil.

Because yes, I still believe what that man did was pure evil.