FanNation - The Republic of Sport

"Are you a hypocrite?"

First off... I don't condone what Michael Vick did if he is found guilty of the charges laid out before him, and I hope our justice system does the right thing and doesn't allow someone with fame and money a way to buy himself out of this.

Earlier this week the Feds laid down an indictment against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for accusations claiming he was involved in a pit bull fighting circuit. In the documentation released last week, the report read in gory details of how certain dogs were put to death if they didn't meet certain expectations. The details were brutal, disgusting, and were just some of the many acts that goes on behind the scenes of this illegal, underground sport - a sport that has been in our countries for centuries.

In the 1800s, pit bull dog fighting was mainstream, and people loved it. Later on, animal rights, laws, and activists drove the sport underground where it remained popular south of the border, and spread out west. However, it wasn't major media until an NFL star QB was accused of breeding and running part of an operation.

Now people are coming out of the woodwork, and demanding answers, wanting Vick's head on a silver platter, and condemning him to hell. Some of these people are the very same people who hated pit bulls to begin with, and wanted them banned and put to sleep.

Those people are my first nation of Vick hypocrites.

Do you want to see how popular pit bull dog fighting was before Michael Vick? Google pit bull dog fighting web sites or videos, and see how many pages come up. One of the sites I went to had eight pages of videos, but as of Friday those videos were removed by either the server provider or the video poster.

Hmmm... I wonder why?

If you a member of PETA, the AHS or any other animal rights group you are applauding this media attention, because some of these groups have been trying to get the feds and local police to act on the fights for years.

In my hometown, we talked about the up coming Vick case on a popular web site inBrockton.com. In the thread, there were some who I believe misunderstood my intentions and thought I was trying to justify Vick's alleged actions or the sport of dog racing, because during the thread I gave a background into the sport. I think some were assuming that because I gave insight to the sport that I was a supporter of the sport, when I'm not. This is where I exposed my next nation of hypocrites.

During the thread I compared Vick's case, and the abuse to greyhound racing and the circus. Guess what? People disagreed, and some made comments saying my assumption and debates was "moronic," and that Vick's case and the abuse can't be compared to greyhound racing.

Really?

Across the country, greyhound race tracks are visited by thousands everyday to place bets on dogs once or twice a day depending what state you live in. Since I live in Massachusetts I'll use the Raynham Dog track as my example.

The Raynham Dog is open seven days a week, and has afternoon and evening races. Eight dogs each heat, and 12-14 races a session comes out to 96 dogs racing everyday almost 365 days per year.

But dog racing is not abusive, right?

These people go to the track and bet their money to watch eight dogs chase a rabbit-lure around a quarter mile track in a matter of seconds from different distances. During a race bettors see the dogs being walked to the gates and then the race. Most never see what happens after the race because they are back at the windows picking up their winnings or placing another bet. When the night is over some go home winners, and some are losers, but they still don't see what goes on to these dogs at some tracks around the country and the world.

When racing, greyhounds follow a lure around the track, and in most parks that lure is a white rabbit. The NGA (National Greyhound Association) monitor owners and trainers to make sure greyhounds are being trained by mechanical means, but there are some who gain an edge by cheating.

These days their have been cases of steroids and cocaine, but early on some were found placing their dogs into kennels and starving them. Once starved, they would tease the greyhound with a rabbit or some other small animal. In some cases, the rabbit would be killed allowing the greyhound to get the scent of the rabbit's blood, and when the kennel was opened the greyhound would rush out.

This act was called "blood lusting" and caused problems for some who adopted greyhounds, because if the home had a small pet or kitten, the greyhound would go after the smaller pet sometimes killing it.

The NGA strictly monitors this, but some would have to say in this day and age nothing is failsafe, and with their monitoring, for some reason, greyhound kennels and tracks across the world have been plagued with their share of horror stories, as pointed out on the website Greyhound Racing Sucks.

GRS is a web site that pulls no punches and exposes the horrors and abuse that goes on around the world long after those who go home counting their winnings realize what is truly going on. GRS has the facts, statistics and is absolutely mind boggling when compared to the pit bull dog fighting.

In the late '80s to early' 90s, 32,000 to 57,000 greyhounds were killed yearly, and people demanded an answer. Since 2000, the sports averages 20,000 killed per year, but the number drops as more states ban dog racing, or tracks close due to heavy fire from the animal activist groups cutting into profits.

In the industry, greyhounds are rumored to be killed as pups and the act is considered culling where the pups just disappear between 18 months of age. Others are killed due to old age or injuries sustained in races, something that happens so fast people never realize the seriousness of the dog's injury. Most people don't care about a dog when it wipes out exiting the gates or on turns 1,2 ,3 or 4. all they care about is the money.

The very same thing Vick and his cohorts were probably thinking about and any other person involved with this sport. Some would say Vick is a monster, and how could anyone love a dog they make fight?

The owners of the horse Barbaro probably loved him, but did they ever think about him going down with a career and life ending injury during a race that forces them to compete for a win time after time? Did anyone call Barbaro's owners monsters or indict them, despite the fact horses and dogs are subjected to physical damages during every race? Nah... Too much money involved.

Betting on horses and dogs racing is a great form of revenue. It's so popular that the casino in Foxwoods has a racing simulcast room that looks like NASA's mission control in Houston. Yet, several sites like GRS are proving that the same type of abuse is going on when the races are done, but most people are too busy collecting their money.

So the next time someone comes up to you and complains about the Michael Vick case, and how much of a monster he is, ask them if they bet on horses and dogs, and when they do...

Make sure to call them a hypocrite.