Metta's Sharebook 

Michael Vick was arrested for illegal dogfighting.  He did unspeakable things to pit bulls.  Have you ever seen pit bulls play?  They're adorable.  Many of the Vick dogs are forever traumatized. Dogtown, a no-kill shelter in Utah has helped some enough to be adopted, but some can only be helped so far and must, by court order, spend their lives at Dogtown.  That in itself is a wonderful blessing, but Dogtown wants to see every dog with a family in a forever-home.

At least one female was apparently considered a good breeder.  She had all her teeth professionally pulled so she wouldn't bite the male while she was tied to a rape table.  Dogs who weren't great fighters were used for practice.  Dogs were shot, and cruelly killed a number of other ways.  They don't get to return to their lives.  This is so unthinkable to me as to be utterly incomprehensible and unforgiveable.

Michael Vick did some jail time and is now back making a fortune in football.  This is a travesty.  He should have been sentenced to a lifetime of cleaning shelters and doing other chores for dogs (as long as he was kept from physical contact with the dogs).  Alternatively, he should be allowed a pittance to live on, while the rest of his football fortune is donated to animal shelters, veterinary and foster care, ending dog-fighting, and other animal rights work.

I welcome further details to add to this share, as I recall the horrors I saw on Dogtown but do not want to add false information.  If my memory serves, some were burned, some electrocuted.  They lived their lives on the end of chains.  Some were so frightened that they couldn't even stand.

I'll end with my highest admiration for the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, which includes Dogtown, and all they do for animals.