What do dogs feel about being required to fight for their lives?

By Marc Bekoff

Football star Michael Vick has just accepted a plea bargain in the
dog-fighting
case in which he's been implicated. Some people, including officials in the
National Football League (NFL;
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-vickfuture082007&prov=yhoo&type=lgn
s),
say that the possibility of one year in prison (but possibly as many as
five)
and a questionable future in the NFL fits the crime, whereas others say it
isn't enough or it's too much. The spectrum of what's a fair punishment for
Mr.
Vick will be argued forever, but what really needs to be considered is the
dog's point of view. What did the dogs think and feel about how they were
treated?

There are countless instances of animal abuse in the US
(http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/cruelty_database/statistics.php) including
companion animals who typically share our homes. Dogs are sentient beings --
they're conscious, suffer, and feel pain. They have a point of view just as
we
would. I'm sure that they didn't like being forced to fight for their lives
and
if they didn't fight according to plan, being mercilessly tortured and
killed.
Who would choose to be put in that position? Surely, no one I know -- human
or
animal -- would volunteer to be treated with such reprehensible indignity
leading to enduring pain and death.

The widespread news about dog fighting involving a star athlete has
generated
even more interest about animal emotions and animal well-being because
numerous
dogs and other animals suffer daily at the hands of humans. And, we now know
that birds and fish also are sentient and experience pain and suffering.
And,
who would have thought that laboratory mice actually are empathic rodents?
Research has shown that mice react more strongly to painful stimuli after
they
observed other mice in pain. Interestingly, mice, used in the millions in
education and research, aren't considered to be an "animal" under the
federal
animal welfare act in the United States, and aren't protected from harmful
research. But, dogs, cats, primates, and other mammals are.

We know more about animal passions then we often admit, and we must no
longer
ignore their pain and suffering. I often begin lectures with the question:
"Is
there anyone in this audience who thinks that dogs don't have feelings, that
they don't experience joy and sadness?" I've never had an enthusiastic
response
to this question, even in scientific gatherings, although on occasion a hand
or
two goes up slowly, usually halfway, as the person glances around to see if
anyone is watching. But if I ask, "How many of you believe that dogs have
feelings?" then almost every hand waves wildly, and people smile and nod in
vigorous agreement. Using behavior as our guide we map the feelings of other
beings onto our own emotional templates, and we do it very reliably.

Recognizing that animals experience deep emotions is important because
animals'
feelings matter. We're immersed in an "animal moment" and there's global
interest in animal sentience and animal well being. Animals experience the
ups
and downs of daily life and we must respect this when we interact with them.
What we already know should be enough to inspire changes in the way we treat
animals. We must not simply continue with the status quo because that's what
we've always done and because it's convenient to do so. What we know has
changed, and so should our relationships with animals.

So, I urge Mr. Vick to do the right thing, to make send the strong message
that
promoting dog fighting can ruin your life. I'd really appreciate his holding
a
news conference telling people to get out of the dog-fighting business.
Thank
you Mr. Vick for doing so. Your words will do a great deal for the well
being of animals and other people.

Marc Bekoff is at the University of Colorado. He is the author of "The
Emotional Lives of Animals" (2007, New World Library) and Animals Matter
(2007,
Shambhala Press).

This story has led to a lot of articles about Vick, most of which aren't really on-topic for this site. But if you're interested I'm sure a Google search or following the links in these articles will bring up much more. This article raises some interesting thoughts though.....

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/08/21/EDF7RM12H.DTL

OPEN FORUM
Vick dog-fighting conspiracy violated human dignity

Wesley J. Smith
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Atlanta Falcons football star Michael Vick pleaded guilty to participating
in a dog fighting/gambling ring, almost certainly ending his NFL career.
Vick's indictment was the scandal of the summer - and for good reason: In
a throwback to the brutality of the Roman arena, in which wild animals
were forced to fight and kill each other to the frenzy of the crowd, Vick
and his co-conspirators allegedly bred pit bulls to tear each other apart
for human enjoyment and their own profit. Dogs that lost fights or were
deemed insufficiently aggressive were slaughtered cruelly by hanging,
shooting or electrocution.

People are outraged, but few are asking why, exactly, we are so upset. For
example, do we contend that the dogs acted wrongly by fighting each other
to the death? Of course not. Only human beings have the capacity to
understand right from wrong. The pit bulls, vicious and dangerous as they
were, only behaved as they were trained.

Then are we furious because, as animal rights activists would have it, the
victimized dogs had a "right" not to be treated in such a brutal fashion?
No. Animals don't have rights. They can't even understand the concept.
Indeed, for rights to be true rights, they must apply universally. Yet,
anyone seriously asserting that a lion violated a zebra's right to life by
hunting it down would be laughed out of town.

So what was the real wrong allegedly committed here? Simply stated, the
crimes of Vick and his alleged co-conspirators are rightfully viewed as
despicable because their brutal actions violated their (and our) humanity.

This conclusion springs from the extraordinary nature of human beings. We
are the only truly conscious and "free" species in the known universe.
Only we possess the power to understand right from wrong, and hence, only
we can be held morally accountable for our actions. Indeed, our uniqueness
as a species and resulting special moral worth - sometimes called "human
exceptionalism" - is the prime philosophical foundation for establishing
and enforcing universal rights premised simply upon being human.

Some claim that human exceptionalism is hubristic. Not so. Being the
exceptional species does far more than support human rights. Our capacity
to appreciate the grandeur and intrinsic worth of animals - and to
recognize their capacity to suffer and feel pain - imposes the solemn duty
upon us to treat animals humanely and never cause them gratuitous pain.
Indeed, unlike the orca that tosses a hapless seal through the air without
a moment's consideration of the agony her prey is experiencing, only
humans wince in revulsion when we see our fellow creatures suffer. This
supremely human capacity to empathize with and appreciate "the other" is
one of the best things about us.

And that is precisely where Vick and his co-conspirators went so badly
wrong. Their acts have been made crimes precisely because society
recognizes that such blatant cruelty should be beyond the pale of human
endeavor. By training dogs to rend each other mercilessly, by brutally
killing the animals whose natures were insufficiently vicious to win
fights, and moreover, doing so merely to satisfy a barbaric blood lust in
their customers or to provide them with a gambling adrenalin rush, they
deserve to be punished by the law and shunned socially as pariahs. For by
treating helpless animals as if their pain did not matter, they not only
inflicted pointless suffering and terror upon helpless, sentient beings,
but even worse, they besmirched the higher nature and noble calling of the
human race.


Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute and a
special consultant to the Center for Bioethics and Culture. He is the
husband of Chronicle columnist Debra J. Saunders. He is writing a book
about the animal rights movement. A version of this essay first appeared
in the Rocky Mountain News.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/21/EDF7RM12H.DTL
This article appeared on page B - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Again, this one is pushing off-topic but raises interesting thoughts.....


http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070822/news_lz1e22newkirk.html

What Vick should do about animal cruelty

By Ingrid E. Newkirk
August 22, 2007

It is hard for those of us whose jobs have long been to pick up the
remains of abused animals
beaten, burned, raped, chained to the point of madness
to think kindly of Michael Vick.

We think of his now well-publicized role in the crude electrocution of
trusting dogs, and it is difficult for us to think of a way to work
side-by-side with him. We have to ask ourselves, however, what good can
come of simply dwelling on horrors that we have no power to go back in
time to stop. There has to be a way forward.

One answer can be found in the South African Truth and Reconciliation
trials, one of the most forward-thinking exercises of all times. People
who had beaten and tortured other human beings were permitted to enter a
room and answer questions about their deadly deeds and murderous acts,
withholding nothing in describing how low they had sunk and how blind they
had been to the suffering of their victims.

>From mighty politicians and community leaders to lowly police officers and
common
snitches,
all faced their accusers and told their stories and provided times and
dates and details that no one wished to hear but that needed to be
recorded. The appearances have been described as cleansing and finalizing,
as redemptive and historical. Is there anything to be learned from that
system that could be applied to the Vick case?

I don't expect Michael Vick to completely bare his soul, although he will
have to admit to certain criminal acts of cruelty, but in a world plagued
with violence, we need reconciliation. It can come in the form of words of
advice from Vick to all those who have looked up to him and to all those
who are closely following his trajectory through the legal system because
they, too, have blood on their hands.

He needs to speak out forcefully against dogfighting, and there is a way
that he can do so earnestly and honestly. He does not have to say that he
has suddenly realized that dogs are not machines, that they are flesh and
blood and that he has suddenly changed from a person who saw dollar signs
and rejoiced in the howls and gurgling last breaths of dogs as they killed
each other into a person who gets teary-eyed when he hears of a dog's
wounds. Few people would believe him if he did. He can say what we know is
true:
Fight dogs, and you may lose your livelihood and your friends and hurt not
only yourself but all those precious to you.
He needs to say,
If you are in dogfighting, look at me. Look how far I have fallen. Get
out!


The rock mogul Russell Simmons, who is a spiritual person, thinks Vick
will become enlightened because of this experience. Others who advise and
guide Vick say that he is a person who has shown love for animals but who
somehow compartmentalized his feelings for animals into those he cares for
at home and those he uses and abuses in his gambling enterprise. Before we
cast the first stone of skepticism, we should remember that all of us are
capable of compartmentalizing our thinking in order to excuse bad
behavior.

If we truly acted as if we believed what we are now shouting from the
rooftops
that cruelty to animals is just plain wrong
we would all think of what goes on in slaughterhouses and become
vegetarians. We would race home at lunchtime or pay someone to be there
for us to make sure our dogs didn't have to sit with their legs crossed,
waiting to relieve themselves. We would turn away in disgust from animal
circuses because in our hearts we know that elephants want to be with
their families in the wild, not forced, through the use of bullhooks, to
stand on their hind legs while wearing a silly costume.

But Vick's failure to recognize animals as sentient individuals who were
harmed needlessly is the issue now in the spotlight. Now that he has
admitted his guilt, he needs to speak out against dogfighting, if only to
stop youngsters from thinking that their football hero's only
crime
was that he got caught.

Newkirk is the president of Norfork, Va.-based People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (www.PETA.org).

Thanks for the Michael Vick postings, Catherine - the Wesley J. Smith one I found so hard to stomach - let alone believe that any serious paper would publish such ill-thought-out B.S. - led me to look up the organisations he represents - I recommend anyone who can't understand this smug, cruel attitude to do the same - there's some pretty murky outfits out there, parading under "scientific" names!

This is so sad.... I don't know much about pitbulls, I know they are bred to behave aggressively but surely a lot of it comes down to the environments they have been brought up in??? And are still in.... Am I being naive to think that a competant, compassionate trainer could take one these dogs and rehab it or is too much of the aggressiveness just hard-wired? I guess it depends.....

------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/01/sports/football/01vick.html?ref=sports

September 1, 2007
Menacing Dogs From Vick Case Await Their Fate

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
HANOVER, Va., Aug. 30

These dogs do not have names anymore, just assigned numbers. They are too
violent to be let free around others, so they spend their days here in
4-by-8-foot pens.


You don't take two out at the same time,
said Kevin M. Kilgore, the chief animal control officer at the Hanover
County Animal Control Pound.
They would just start going at each other.


The pound is the temporary home for 11 of the 53 pit bulls seized from the
Surry, Va., property owned by Michael Vick where dogfighting took place.
Authorities took control of the dogs in April after they raided the
property.

On Monday, when Vick became the fourth defendant in the case to plead
guilty, he agreed to pay for the
long-term care and/or the human euthanasia of some or all of those animals
as may be directed by the court in this case.

Vick, who has been suspended indefinitely by the N.F.L., and the others
pleaded guilty to federal felony charges stemming from the dogfighting.
They will learn their fates later this year at sentencing. The fate of the
dogs, however, is all but sealed.

Over the next few weeks, animal behaviorists will examine each one to make
recommendations. After that, Kilgore can either attempt to adopt out those
few that are suitable or put them down.


One of them may make a nice pet for someone that is an expert in pit bulls
and knows exactly what they were doing with it,
he said while providing a tour of the kennel Thursday to a reporter and a
photographer for The New York Times.
But the majority of people that want dogs like this want them for all the
wrong reasons.


Kilgore, a burly man with blond hair, acknowledged that he did not feel
comfortable around the dogs when they were not leashed. When they see or
smell another dog, most charge the front of their cages and gnaw at the
metal fencing that surrounds them. They are allowed out only to see a
veterinarian once a week or when kennel workers clean the pens.


They can
t calm down in a kennel environment,
Kilgore said.
Their prey drive and activity level are so high that if not controlled
they can be very dangerous. Because they came fighting bloodlines, they
are even worse. They latch on to any sound or noise.

Vick
s dogs take up the entire back section of the kennel. Most approach the
front of their pens and try to lick Kilgore
s fingers, but a few are extremely shy and hide in the back of their
cages.

Dog No. 43, a wiry black pit bull, spends most of her time scampering from
one end of her pen to the next. Her chest and neck are covered with scars.
A pen over, the nose of No. 30, a tan pit bull, is also marked by scars.
She stands at the front of her cage, calmly peering out. But when a
photographer used a flash, the dog
s mood changed.


That dog will lick your fingers, but her emotions can range,
Kilgore said.
She can get very irritated.


The dog began to growl.
Now she is not happy,
Kilgore said.
She is nice, but it is all genetics, sometimes.


A few pens down, No. 41 appeared to be so timid that he hid in the back of
his cage and ducked his head behind his hind, a sign of past abuse or
socialization problems.

It
s very sad,
Kilgore said.
He is clearly not happy. We, as humans, have bred animals for our own
pleasure for thousands of years. In this case, we have bred animals to
fight.


[On Friday, John Goodwin, the head of the dogfighting unit for the Humane
Society of the United States, said fighting dogs are bred to have
boundless energy. When they are placed in confinement, he said their
condition rapidly deteriorates.


They can
t burn off their excess energy in their pens, and they start to
demonstrate neurotic behavior and often times tear their kennel run to
pieces,
Goodwin said.
They tear the fencing and destroy any blankets or toys they are given.
This is why we favor quick judgments about what will happen with seized
fighting dogs.
]

At night, the lights at the pound are turned off in the hope that the dogs
will rest. The local authorities said they keep a close eye on the
building to ward off people who might attempt to take one of the animals.

The dogs have been here for three weeks. They had been at the Surry Animal
Control Pound, which is less than 10 miles from Vick
s property. But that pound could house only about 15 dogs, and the county
s animal control officer was overwhelmed, Kilgore said.

They have put on a lot of weight since they got here, and that is good,
Kilgore said.
It may be diet. Some have gained seven pounds. Some 10. We may feed them
more. We have probably catered a little more to them because of where they
have been and what they have been through.

Poor dogs - the Michael Vicks of the world execute them if they won't fight, and the Pound executes them if they wil.....................

Haha, someone's trying to save face..... Although obviously I'm glad he's doing this and respect him for trying to learn more

http://www.peta.org/feat_AP101.asp