Does the NFL care more about dead dogs than it does about dead people?

Question

Michael Vick is facing the end of his career over his dog-fighting involvement.

Meanwhile, St. Louis Rams defensive end Leonard Little is still playing ... even after killing someone in a DUI accident in '98, then getting arrested for DUI again in '04 only to get off on a technicality.

Does the NFL care more about dogs than it does about people? Does society in general care more about animals than it does about people?

Maybe it's just me, but I see some out-of-whack priorities here!

Answer 1

No. The Little incident was under a different commissioner. I'm sure if it happened today, stiffer penalties would occur. It's just nothing can be done today, because the Little crime happened years ago. I do think that Little should have faced a much harsher sentence than what he did get.

Answer 2

The NFL is worried about the dead dogs. It comes down to image and what happens when a hot button topic like dogfighting. PETA will ruin anything that comes between them and the cruelity to animals. It is a tale of two leagues between 98 - 04 and now in 07. Goodell is laying down the law on these things now. Little would be over with if he had done this now, he would not be playing this year.

Answer 3

The NFL cares more about dead animals than dead people because animal cruelty is more of a heinous crime than a DUI. For the most part animals are defenseless and thus beating on them is almost like beating on a child. If Vick had beaten up his girlfriend or someone outside a nightclub then it wouldn't be as big a deal because theoretically they could defend themselves.

Answer 4

How can you not understand how wrong it is to torture, starve, abuse, beat, and murder defenseless animals?? Over and over and over again. This dogfighting venture of Michael Vick's has been going on for 6 years now. Can you imagine all the abuse and suffering that so MANY dogs have suffered at the hands of Michael Vick and his cohorts?

Leonard Little in 1998 was playing under a different commissioners regime but Goodell has a new policy, and he intends to enforce it. Good for him.

DUI is wrong, killing someone while driving under the influence is awful. But someone who does this did not set out to KILL someone, they did NOT have cruel intentions to begin with. They broke the law and it resulted in an awful tragedy.

What Michael Vick and his cohorts have done was INTENTIONAL. They had no more compassion than to abuse so many animals over and over again. This speaks of a very frightening character for all of these men.

I am sorry that you have little compassion for animals, but many of us care when they are abused for a multi-millionaire's ENTERTAINMENT.

Answer 5

I agree! But Little didn't kill on purpose. Vick would probably have gotten off with a suspension if the locals would have done their job. Vick had/has the locals in his pocket to protect his criminal empire in Surrey Co., Va. Vick bought that secluded property, house, and kennell for the sole purpose of establishing a dog-fighting/gambling operation (and possibly drug sales through his cousin). The Feds tried to get the locals to file charges, but they refused. It is looking pretty obvious that Vick wanted to be the 'Godfather' of Surrey Co.
This is, in no way just about some guy who bet his neighbor that his dog could take the other guy's! ( That would suck anyway!)

Answer 6

What is wacky is that the NFL is a business, and when it receives "bad press" and "threats of protest and boycots", they tend to react to that.

No one protested and objected over the incident with Leonard Little. If they had, then I am sure that he would no longer be playing.

So the real shame in all of this should go to the people doing all of the screaming. Someone should have been screaming about the death of a human being, but instead no one spoke up.

I also think that Vick is a "victim" of timing. In the past year, there have been numerous arrests of players due to conduct off the field. The fans and public are getting sick of professional sports figures thinking and acting as if they are "above the law". He was caught during the time that this is "being acted upon". Pacman Jones suffers a suspension, as do other players due to their conduct. Little hasn't gotten into any trouble during this time of trouble, so he has benefited from that.

Either way, Vick should pay for his crimes. And from the sounds of it, he is going to. If he loses everything due to this, then he has no one to blame but himself. That is how I feel in the matter of anyone getting in trouble for breaking the laws of this land.

Answer 7

On the contrary ,the NFL cares deeply about human life that's why they're coming down so hard on Vick .
100% of all serial killers have abused animals first and a very high percentage of felons who were convicted of commiting violent crimes began their careers by abusing animals first .
Animal abuse is a huge warning sign about who a person really is and the NFL should be commended for not ignoring it.

Answer 8

Perhaps LIttle was treated to lightly but under Goodell it seems that will not be the standard. What Vick did was illegal, pure and simple. I don't think it really has anything to do with dogs, he violated state and federal law, and if found guilty his career will, and should be in leopardy.

Answer 9

what would you care more about, if your dog died or a random person died. huh tell me im not being mean im just saying we dont really care what happens to other people, we care about our own thing and that is human nature. we ar so closely bonded to our pets and that when someone died we simply dont really care, that is why this dogfighting case is taking off. it kinda makes you wana hug you dog. you say o poor dogs, but when someone dies, we are like o that guy died. we really dont feel any emotion toward it. but in this case it affects petoweners because dogfighting is just cruel and evil. i think vick should be tied up and put in a dog pit and let the dogs have at him.

Answer 10

My best guess is that the NFL under Goodell is just laying down harsher penalties. It was starting to get out of hand with players getting arrested left and right. No matter how popular the league is, you still want to keep a positive image off the field.