IDA Urges Virginia to Prosecute Michael Vick

Organization Calls for State Charges and Maximum Sentence as Abused Dogs Face Execution

Richmond, Va.—With the 53 pit bulls seized from the home of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick awaiting their certain death sentences, international animal protection organization In Defense of Animals (IDA) is applauding Surry County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerald Poindexter’s announcement that he plans to seek state charges against the football star. Given that today is the deadline for dogs seized from the property to be claimed, and most, if not all, will be euthanized, IDA is calling on Poindexter to pursue the maximum sentence allowed under the law and to consider the deaths of the 53 dogs during prosecution.

Vick is facing up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines for federal dogfighting conspiracy charges. While Vick has agreed to enter a guilty plea in the federal case against him next Monday, August 27, he has yet to be charged by the state of Virginia.

Because dogs used in fighting rings are trained to be aggressive and turned into vicious killers, they present a danger to society and most often must be humanely euthanized. However, IDA founder and President Elliot M. Katz, DVM wants to ensure that state prosecutors take into consideration the needless deaths of the 53 pit bulls seized from Vick’s property in pursuing charges against him. “Not only is Michael Vick alleged to have killed numerous dogs himself—by shooting, hanging, drowning, and electrocution—simply because they were not good fighters, but now the blood of 53 more innocent dogs will be on his hands. The judicial system must severely punish this despicable behavior, which is especially deplorable in a professional athlete who is a role model for so many sports fans, including impressionable young people.”

Dog fighting is illegal in all 50 states. Trainers prepare dogs to fight by starving and beating them in order to turn them into vicious killers. Typically, the dog who “loses” the fight dies in the ring or is killed afterwards by his trainer; sometimes even the “winner” dies as a result of his injuries. To combat this criminal activity, lawmakers increased the punishment for dog fighting in May 2007 with passage of the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, which doubles the potential prison sentence for those who engage in the interstate transport of animals used for fighting.

Visit www.idausa.org/facts/fighting.html#afb-d for more information about dog fighting.