'It affects us all'

To the Editor:

I can tell you why Michael Vick is still in prison [in response to 'They are just dogs', Oct. 8, 2008]. Because he killed 8 dogs, not to mention the dozens of others that he tortured for sport.

We don't need to be reminded of how he got there and neither do the dogs that he tortured; the dogs that are still being rehabilitated at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. These dogs have constant reminders every day, whether it is physically or otherwise. Some of the dogs bear horrible scars from their days as Michael Vick's "property". Still others are just now beginning to trust people. And can you blame them?

Let's clarify Vick's "dog dilemma", shall we? He and his friends gambled and watched as dogs, living breathing creatures, were forced to fight, usually to the death, because these people thought it was fun. They watched as these dogs tore each other apart. Literally. All because that is what they trained them to do. And if there was a dog that did not perform well, i.e.; kills another dog, they would torture or kill it. They would drown, strangle, beat, and/or electrocute these dogs to death. As for the females, they were trained to fight and were bred as well. How did they breed champion fighters; dogs that had been trained to kill another dog? They chained these dogs up to a "rape stand" so they couldn't fight back. There's a reason Vick is hard to defend. It's because his actions were and still are inexcusable.

An indirect action that affected no one on a personal level? It affected me on a personal level. It should've affected anyone with any sense of compassion for their fellow man or beast on a personal level. I spend my days, when I am not working 50 hours a week and raising a family, running a Pit Bull rescue and cleaning up after people like Vick. People, who think those dogs, or any animal for that matter, are property or disposable. I see dogs starved, beaten, fought, abandoned, all because some ignorant, violent, pathetic "human being" thinks that he/she can do whatever they want, because after all, that dog belongs to them. Violence is violence. Whether it's inflicted on a person or an animal doesn't make it any less disgusting or disturbing.

Just dogs? Maybe to some. But to others, they are friends and family members. I would implore you to spend a couple of days at a shelter and spend some time with a dog, a cat, whatever, that has been beaten and abused. The SPCA of Wake County has a dog in their program right now that had half of her face torn off because she was forced to fight other dogs for her meals, just so she could survive. Horrible, sadistic people like Vick are the reason she ended up there. I doubt you could see this horror in person and still go home thinking of this animal as someone's property, or "just a dog".

I take issue with your statement that none of this is a big deal; it's a huge deal. At the end of the day, I, and my fellow rescuers, will keep on saving and defending as many animals as we can, despite the ridicule of yourself and people that think like you. We will have compassion for all living souls, human or animal. And we will know that any act of violence, whether it's committed against an animal or a human being, is not an "indirect action"; it affects us all. It's that simple.

Kim Comstock

Fugee's Rescue, Inc.