Dog abuser Michael Vick wins Courage award and his own TV show

In what strange world does a convicted animal abuser get hoisted up above his non-criminal peers and heralded as a hero? Ours…where tv executives at networks like BET latch onto train wrecks like Michael Vick to use for ratings, and where money can buy you a “production company” and PR team with which you can film yourself acting like a human being and deliver the glorious footage into unsuspecting homes via tv and the internet.

Michael Vick Nominated for Courage Award

Not a football fan and unable to name a single Philadelphia Eagles player besides Vick, I initiated research of the team members only to find out that the players themselves nominated Vick for the 2009 Ed Block Courage Award. Why? Because they understand the nuisance he’s had to deal with as the pesky press, animal lovers and rights organizations call him out on his crimes; because they are teammates and they want to rally around the moral runt of the pack. Poor Vick!

But I wonder: do they really relate more to Vick the famous but hounded football player, and not to the villain who would think nothing of torturing any one of his teammates’ beloved hounds?

Vick and 31 others from the 32 NFL teams will be “honored” at the annual award banquet on March 9, 2010 in Baltimore. There’s one award with such low standards, I’m glad I cannot be nominated. According to their web site, “The Ed Block Courage Award Foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of neglected children and ending the cycle of abuse.” Luckily for the organization’s renown distinction, Vick spares innocent children and opts for innocent puppies to maim and abuse.

BET’s “The Michael Vick Project”

Great news for dog kickers and criminals! BET’s docu-series on Michael Vick premieres Feb. 2, 2010. The eight episodes will follow Michael as he rebuilds his life and blah blah blah. I won’t go into it here, but you can read more about it from a horribly written release on BET.com. It talks a lot about the “mistakes” and “choices” he made. I find it interesting that they “chose” those words. Is it really a CHOICE or a MISTAKE to become so involved in force breeding (raping), starving, drugging, and fighting dogs that you invest time and money in your operation? Did he say “oops” every time he disposed of the duds by killing them via electrocution, drowning, hanging and shooting them?

No. These awful actions were easy for him to do because he is cruel and void of compassion. And the fact that anyone wants me to believe that stripping him of his football career and throwing him in jail suddenly packed him with a conscience and some regret is insulting. People don’t turn from evil to good that fast. You either respect animals or you don’t. You either empathize with an innocent creature or you don’t get it at all.

Smoke & Mirrors

When Michael Vick was released from prison, not only did he get his big, important, overpaid NFL career back, but he also launched a campaign to clean up his image. I don’t know–and I doubt–if that was due to true remorse. What I do know is that he had money set aside to hire a PR team to help him look good (better?) in the public eye.

“Several months ago, Mr. Vick’s PR representatives approached the ASPCA to help educate America about the heinous act of dog fighting following his release from prison. We were the first animal welfare organization given the opportunity to work with Mr. Vick but immediately turned him down…” wrote Ed Sayres on the ASPCA web site in August of 2009.

So, they tried again with the Humane Society of the United States and scored a touchdown! Any support from me to the HSUS was severed that day, when they announced that they would be working with Vick on their anti-dog fighting campaigns.

Stand Up

Want to complain? Along with BET, the companies behind this slap-in-the-face show are DuBose Entertainment and Category 5 Entertainment (whose Director, Mitch Jacobson, has a dog of his own. I wonder if he left the dog at home while he filmed Vick.). The other company, MV7 Productions, is Michael Vick’s own production company.

As for the Courage award, there is an online petition you can sign, but it may be too late to renounce Vick as a winner.