"When you know better, you're supposed to do better."

The title of this article was quoted from a hand-written letter to the judge by Michael Vick. It's hard to believe that dog fighting still goes on in America when it's banned in all 50 states and is listed as a felony in most. What's even more difficult to believe is that a professional football player would be involved in such a heinous "sport."

Michael Vick had such an illustrious career as a quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, with a career 52% completion average and more than 11,000 yards passing. As the first African American quarterback taken number 1 in the NFL Draft of 2001, Michael Vick proved through 2006 that he was a force to be reckoned with on the gridiron.

On December 10, 2007, Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months for knowing better and choosing not to do better.

Of course the biggest reason Michael Vick has been singled out as an inhumane monster is because he's a celebrity. However, the ASPCA reports that law enforcement categorizes dogfight activity into 3 groups: street fighting, hobby, and professional. The professional category is sited as, "often have large numbers of animals (often 50 or more) and earn money from breeding, selling and fighting dogs at a central location and on the road." Let's see now...Michael Vick wouldn't be classified as a "street fighter" because they are more likely linked with gang activity. He wouldn't be in the "hobby" category because members of that category only have a couple of dogs and usually engage in the sport to earn a little extra income - Michael Vick had plenty of income. So that leaves the "Professional Dog Fighter" category. The complete definition of the category is as follows:

“Professional” dog fighters often have large numbers of animals (often 50 or more) and earn money from breeding, selling and fighting dogs at a central location and on the road. They often pay particular attention to promoting established winning bloodlines and to long-term conditioning of animals. They regularly dispose of animals that are not successful fighters or breeders using a variety of methods, including shooting and blunt force trauma. Unlike “professional” dog fighters of the past, both “professionals” and “hobbyists” of today may dispose of dogs that are too human-aggressive for the pit by selling them to “street” fighters or others who are simply looking for an aggressive dog—thus contributing to the dog bite problem.

Considering that dozens of dogs were found on his property, I would say this category is appropriate. A 23-month sentence may not be as appropriate. U.S. Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) has stated that he's witnessed an execution and "wouldn't mind seeing another "if it involves this cruel, sadistic, cannibalistic business of training innocent, vulnerable creatures to kill.""

But what about the dogs? There were dogs still being bred at the Bad Newz Kennels and other dogs still alive on his property.