Throwing Michael Vick to the Dogs
Survey Says NFL Should Punish Quarterback if Guilty of Dogfighting
Respondents in survey overwhelmingly agree that Atlanta Falcons quarterback should be punished by the NFL if he is involved in dogfighting.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has been in the doghouse a lot lately, most recently for allegedly been involved in illegal dogfighting, which is a felony in most states.
The story goes something like this:
Police entered a house owned by Vick and occupied by a relative of Vick's on a search warrant. They were there to look for drugs. While there, the police found a pry bar and bloodstained carpeting, both of which have been touted as evidence of dogfighting. Media outlets everywhere jumped on the story.
Meanwhile, Washington Redskins players Clinton Portis said in a recorded video interview that if Vick wants to fight his dogs, then he should go ahead and do it. Portis also implied that dogfighting was no big crime. Teammate Chris Samuels was standing next to him, laughing at various points throughout the interview.
The Redskins issued a statement saying they do not condone animal cruelty, then Portis backpedaled on his comments.
Then People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals got involved and offered the National Football League free seminars for every team on animal cruelty.
Vick has not been charged with a crime in relation to this matter as of this writing, nor has he been punished by the NFL.
But in a survey conducted by HCD Research on mediacurves.com, participants said that Vick should be punished by the NFL if he is in fact involved in dogfighting.
The survey participants were given the opportunity to watch the video interview of Portis and Samuels and were asked a series of questions before and after watching the video.
Before seeing the video, 87 percent of the participants agreed that Vick should be disciplined by the NFL if he was found to be involved in dogfighting. After the viewing 86 percent of the viewers agreed that Vick should be disciplined by the NFL.
However, only 39 percent of those surveyed believed that Portis and Samuels should be disciplined by the NFL for their comments in support of Vick.
About two-thirds of respondents believed Vick was not singled out for investigation because of his celebrity status.
Fifty-six percent of participants agreed that an employer has the right to discipline employees for incidents that happen during the employee's personal time.
It is clear that the dogfighting issue has struck a nerve within the football community and will not be going away anytime soon. There is chatter all over the internet about it, from football columnists to football fans.
