Are Dogs More Important Than People?

I went out with two vastly different sets of friends on succeeding days last week. Last Thursday, I ended up out with some newspaper colleagues and on Friday I went to happy hour with some of my fraternity brothers and other friends.

One topic came up during both outings, Michael Vick and dogfighting. One of my newspaper colleagues, a white male, nearly came to tears when speaking about the incidents described in the indictment. Likening dogs to children, he couldn't believe someone could be so blatantly cruel to a helpless animal. Conversely, the other party, a mostly black contingency, concurred with a unifying theme: "they're just dogs."

During the last week or so, I've been listening intently to the different arguments on both sides of this issue on a national level, and most of those people pontificating on this subject don't believe that this has anything to do with race. But after thinking it through, I believe race is at this saga's center.

Before I continue, I have to say that in no way do I condone anything related to the slayings/killings of animals for shear enjoyment. Aside for self defense, killing is wrong. If Mike Vick or any of his co-defendants were involved in the activities depicted in the indictment they deserve to be punished accordingly.

That said, we live in a world where greyhound dogs are raced on a track, and betting is legally allowed. The greyhounds that don't run up to the standards of their owners are often put down or killed. There are piles of put-down racing dogs behind veterinary offices outnumbering those found buried on Mike Vick's property.

We also live in a world where people hunt and kill deer for the sheer enjoyment of the "sport," and hang the deer heads on their walls as trophies. These things are legal.

Why? I'm certain that most keen black people in America will tell you because it's something that rich white men deem appropriate and socially acceptable.

But barbaric dog fighting is bottom barrel and inexcusable (and it should be along with killing greyhounds because they don't run fast and hunting animals for enjoyment). PETA, the Humane Society and the government officials who speak out against the idea of people doing such egregious things to animals need to be making a simultaneous push right now against all of these sanctioned entities of animal cruelty just as vigorously as they are pursuing Mike Vick.

But they won't. You know why? Because these things make rich white men richer.

One of my black friends brought up an interesting point toward the end of the conversation.

"I think Vick is definitely in the wrong," he said. "But you know what it looks like this witch hunt says about America? It looks like white people care more about dogs than they do about black people. I mean, there are so many other things that the federal government should be concerned about. Not making Michael Vick the poster boy for dog fighting."

A few interesting statistics I saw in a story the other day: 40 percent of those incarcerated are black males. Four percent of those in college are black males. Now, who is to blame for these facts?

It makes you understand why there seems to be a racial divide on this issue.