Doxie News Dachshund Blog

I haven't said anything about this story this week because I was, and in some ways still am confused about exactly what to say. But the 60 Minutes appearance helped clear things up.

I felt Michael was in fact just trying to say the right things in his 60 Minutes interview. While I believe he feels regret, I don't think he feels it about the animals. He was kind of trying to rewrite history. He said he should have stood up and been a "leader" and stopped the dog fighting. That's a very finessed statement. Because it makes it sound as if he regretted the fighting while he was doing it. And he said it such a way that James Brown, the interviewer, did not question him on that. However, I have a firm belief that Michael Vick did not feel bad at all during that time. It's fairly obvious. If you feel bad about electrocuting dogs, chances are that you're not going to do it again.

The interview was a softball interview presented in a hardball way. The questions were like, "Do you really regret what you did?" as opposed to, "How do you get to the point where you enjoy electrocuting dogs?" So not really hardball.

The guy from the Humane Society answered my main question, which is "Is it OK for Michael Vick to be out of prison and pretending to regret his actions?" The answer is yes. Here's why. I'm quite sure Michael Vick will not re-offend. I'm also quite sure that he is motivated to campaign against dog fighting as hard as if he really means it. So it doesn't matter if he's still evil, the best possible thing is happening. This is better than if he were in jail, because he'll be helping to stop dog fighting.

Do I like Michael Vick? No I don't. Do I forgive him? Not really. Do I believe he has really changed inside with respect to the humane treatment of animals? No.

But it doesn't matter, because he's being forced to do the right thing now. That's a "prison" I can get behind. I really do hope that over the years Michael Vick learns to appreciate the animals he works with. I hope he does experience both true regret and true love for dogs. Everyone needs to understand what it means to love an animal. Unfortunately I also know it may not be possible for him to feel that, which is sad.