Okay, the Rev. Al was on O’Reilly tonight, and he’s talking about “let’s not judge Michael Vick until he’s convicted.” What? Is this the same Rev. Al. who lead the charge against the Duke LaCrosse players BEFORE they were adjudicated guilty? Yep, that be the same Rev. Al. Except this time, the defendant is black. And rich. And a superstar athlete. Do I have to investigate why the NAACP is sticking up for Michael Vick as well?

Now, let me tell you what I know about dog-fighting, which I’ve not seen many other places. I used to be the founder and president of a non-profit animal welfare organization, and I was a certified animal cruelty investigator. These dog fights are not just some “blood sport” for sick individuals; it’s almost always an organized gang thing (or backwoods country hillbilly thing), but the admission price is an average of $500 per spectator to see this vicious act. After the entry price, most attendees can buy drugs, prostitutes, or bet on the dog fights. It really doesn’t matter to these miscreants, because the only thing they care about is their machismo and the money. The purses can be huge, and it is true the losing dogs, or dogs who refuse to fight, are often brutally killed after the fights. It’s almost like a Middle Eastern honor killing in that the spectators will know that the “weak,” losing dog will no longer produce any “weak” offspring. Lovely, eh? Selective breeding they call it.

I’ve personally found dog pits with blood literally all over every wall of the pit, and needles, coke spoons, used condoms, and whatever else you can think of. I’ve seen dogs who only want to play with other dogs when they try to break them on each other, and it’s not a pretty ending.

The “joys” of dog-fighting

Training facilities include enclosed treadmills, where Pit Bulls are tied up to a treadmill handle and made to run until they get exhausted. I’ve found undercover video from some of those training facilities, and one of the most brutal parts of training is the ginny mill. If you don’t know what a ginny mill is, just go back to that pony ride you went on at the local county fair where ponies were harnessed to individual rungs on a wheel where you rode around in circles. With dogs, the ginny mill is used to increase their blood-lust and endurance. The dog is tied to one rung of the ginny mill just after getting a bite or “taste” of a kitten or rabbit. The kitten or rabbit is then strapped right on the rung in front of them or two ahead, and the dog has to run around and around and around until it’s exhausted. Once the dog has run all it can and proves its endurance, it’s given the kitten or the rabbit as a “reward” for going for so long.

And the syringes of which I spoke earlier? Not just for the crack, cocaine and heroine users at the spectacle, but also for the steroids and pain-killers for the dogs.

Another thing is when folks meet these qualified fight dogs is that the dog is required by the rules to be friendly towards humans. Otherwise they are not often used in organized dog-fighting, and part of that reason is that the perception of animal control officers or cops is “oh, that dog is nice!” not knowing the dog has been trained to be that way towards humans, but absolutely brutal to other dogs.

These dogs are not vicious by nature; they are bred and made that way by the people who buy and raise (and train) them. People like Michael Vick. There is no excuse for this behavior. I’m doing some digging now to see if I can find out what Vick’s gang affiliation is, because I have a strong suspicion he has one. Allegedly.

In the meantime, here’s a situation in which I’d like to see Michael Vick:

And let’s not forget these lovely parting shots that Michael Vick gave his own fans here in Atlanta not too long ago.

Watch Fat Albert Sharpton on O’Reilly here.

***SCROLL FOR UPDATE***

Okay, so I know bigger and more “significant” things are going on in the news today, but I just couldn’t let this go.

What the hell is going on in China? Today Drudge points me to one article that leads to another. Both
by the Daily Mail of U.K.

The first article is about some stupid garbage called “Animal Olympics,” which force kangaroos to box humans. Now, I know a lot of you guys are going to say “well, kangaroos are strong and can kick a human’s ass,” but this is in no way fair whatsoever.

According to the first article:

An Australian kangaroo receives a fierce blow to the head by a man dressed in a clown suit (pictured below) in a shameful contest that will further fuel fears over China’s barbaric attitude to animals.

Photos courtesy of Getty

The bizarre marsupial-versus-human bout happened during the so-called Animal Olympics in Shanghai.

Animal rights campaigners say the Chinese have an appalling poor record for animal rights protection and have no laws to protect them.

In the fight, the Australian kangaroo appears to reel backwards after receiving a right hook from its garishly attired opponent.

But the ‘roo, which was wearing boxing gloves on its front paws, fought back, grappling with the clown who was forced back towards the ropes by its onslaught.

Oh, and kangaroos aren’t the only animals in this “olympics” charade:

The event held in a large arena also involves an elephant carrying the Olympic torch and various animals including zebras and mountain goats put through a series of events such as hurdles and races.

Also pictured at the event yesterday were bears standing with boxing gloves on their paws during another distasteful performance.

Now, this article intimates to another from July about a sickening and barbaric “sport” of horse fighting!

From that July article:

With wild, rolling eyes filled with a mixture of fear and hatred, nostrils flaring, blood already flecking their ragged flanks, two stallions rise on hind legs to fight each other in a dusty arena.

All around them as they bite, kick and snort, an excited, cheering crowd takes bets on who will win. While animal welfare groups yesterday condemned the horse-fighting tradition, celebrated by China’s Miao ethnic group in Rongshui county, Guangxi province, locals pointed out that it had been going on for 500 years.

…and further…

One guide explains how two teams of horses, specially selected to be ‘plump, sturdy and energetic,’ are led to the arena and then pitted against each other one by one. They bite each other, turn their hooves and kick the other side heavily. The nervous and fierce fight makes audiences hold their breath or cheer and applaud loudly from time to time,” says the guide.

If one horse falls down or runs away, the other one is declared the winner and another two take their place. The winning horses then fight each other. The last two battle it out to be champion.

While the losers are led away to lick their wounds, the sweat-soaked champion is draped in red while his owner ‘feels very proud for having such a brave and strong steed.’

Very proud? How can anybody feel “very proud” for even participating in such an event? Looking at these pictures absolutely mortifies me and makes me very angry and very sad. Regardless of how you feel about animals, there is in no way fathomable that either of these incidents could be considered justifiable, much less “entertainment.” This is cruelty plain and simple.

Nothing about either of these is “sport.” In true sports, both sides are of equal strength and species, both know the rules, and both parties voluntarily participate. I don’t know how anyone can say these animals volunteered for any such thing. This is just wrong. In. So. Many. Ways.

This really hurts my heart.

***UPDATE***

Another story today from the Daily Mail, via Drudge.

A bear struggles to retain its balance while gripping the two metal hoops, which look more like shackles than acrobatics equipment, as a wildlife park worker looks on and laughs.

This is just the latest shocking picture to emerge from the Animal Olympic Games which is being held in China, a country with a shameful animal rights record.

Chimpanzees are forced to play basketball and apparently lift huge weights, while a docile brown bear is dressed in a tutu while navigating a makeshift obstacle course in one of the strangest events ever to be staged.

The photographs are published for the first time today following outrage at earlier images which showed kangaroos being forced to take part in boxing matches with their supposed keepers and a monkey cycling while tied by the collar to the children’s bike.

Other events at the ‘games’ include a sea lion high jump and a tug of war between an elephant and members of the audience, with more than 300 animals taking part.

The forth of the biannual events at the Shanghai Wildlife Park has attracted thousands of visitors, including rapturous school children, but has provoked outrage and serious concerns among animal rights groups the world over.

And the ‘cruelty Olympics’ are being held just before the human Olympics take place in Beijing. The Captive Animals’ Protection Society will be writing to the Chinese Ambassador in London to complain about the event.

Craig Redmond, the UK based campaigns manager, said: “The abuse of the animals is clear. The bears, for example, will be very distressed at being forced to wear muzzles, chained and made to fight.

“The macaque money is chained and the kangaroo has a harness too. The things these animals are being made to do are not natural acts, and there will no doubt be cruelty involved in making them perform these tricks.”

This is just absolutely insane. I’m no PETA nut, but some things just aren’t right. This is one of them.

Beford any of you bleeding-heart liberals pre-judge this post, please watch this video. I’ve worked animal cruelty cases before, and I always think I’ve seen it all, but even if it’s something I HAVE seen before, it doesn’t make it less tragic. You see, Gracie and Bailey were two pet Boxers who were thrown from a highway overpass by a cruel, heartless, sonofabitch. Their only crime? They got away from their owners to chase squirrels. There are no reports of these pups being vicious or anything like that. And even if the future reports bear out they might have destroyed someone’s garden, pooped in a neighbor’s yard, or whatever, NOTHING justifies this level of brutality! Look at these PRECIOUS faces!

These babies were allegedly beat before they were thrown from the overpass bridge, and one might have been dead before she was thrown over, head hitting the concrete first.

I hope these bastards who did this have nightmares forever. Some people do just NOT deserve to live.

By the way… people who are capable and willing to do things like this have more significant psychological problems than just being cruel to animals. Extensive research has been done regarding the relationship between animal cruelty and adult aggressive criminal behavior. So, anybody in these assholes’ lives need to be on alert for other behaviors that are indicative of any type of abuse, aggression, or other acts that seem “out of the norm.” Research shows these jackasses are not finished with their criminal lives. They could turn out to be the next Dahmer or Bundy.

Want to test me? Leave comments and I will school you on all the research available, as well as my own personal experience working with victims of animal cruelty and domestic violence. There is a very special place in hell for these kind of people,and I hope that this follows them to their graves.

Watch the video from the local news here.

“A six-month-old labrador pup was recently found ALIVE with a huge double hook through its snout - like the dog above - and another through a leg.

The pup was found in a coastal creek and is thought to have somehow freed itself from a fishing line.”

Thank God for Britain’s RSPCA, who are “demanding an end to the hideous torture.”

I know this is one of those ’say it ain’t so!’ stories, so I double-checked with Snopes on this one:

“Given that a Réunion newspaper article reported the recent prosecution of a deliveryman (and amateur fisherman) on that island over animal cruelty charges associated with the described activity, we’d have to estimate that there probably is some truth to shark-fishing claim, although the practice may not be as widespread or horrific as implied by recent news stories — the article notes that it is largely the province of amateur fisherman who place their canine bait on boards attached to buoys rather than “dragging them behind boats,” and that they generally pick up dead strays rather than catching and impaling live animals.”