Dog Fighting Bad, Industrial Animals Worse

Frank Deford is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, author, and commentator. NPR recently aired a commentary by Deford in which he discusses the much publicized dog fighting charges recently brought against Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons. He condemns Vick's actions, calling them "heinous", and then goes on to point out that Vick's is not a unique case in America. Animal fighting is rampant. Deford takes the opportunity to spotlight other examples of what he calls, "animal torture amusements". Language like that is usually reserved for use by proponents of animal rights of the "activist" variety. It is refreshing to hear a Sports Illustrated writer use those words. The "animal torture amusements" to which he refers include so-called "canned hunting", in which so-called "sportsmen" are taken to a "shooting preserve" in order to kill penned animals. Pathetic? Yes. Twisted? I think so. Illegal? In some states. "Canned hunting" is a favorite past time of a well-known public figure, Dick Cheney. The fact that a drunken Cheney shot his friend on that infamous "hunting trip" over-shadowed the also note-worthy fact that they were at an establishment in which they hand picked the birds that they wished to shoot, were driven, in the same vehicle as those birds, and then waited, guns at the ready, as the birds were released from their cages.

Dick Cheney kills things for fun. But we knew that already.

Deford's commentary went on to discuss "internet hunting ranges", in which perverted gargoyles can take on-line control of a real rifle, wait for an animal to walk by, and kill it. The animal's head will then be shipped to them.

One marvels at the evil of people like Hitler, Stalin, Saddam, etc. But the truth is, that kind of evil is all around us. Fortunately, most people just aren't that powerful.

I like Frank Deford. While I don't follow sports, his writing is entertaining, and he usually manages to inject a fair amount of insightful social commentary when writing about sports. Remarkable. He'll even go as far as to say that Sports fans take things way too seriously and that there are more important things to be concerned with... and SI keeps him around!

But there is glaring hypocrisy in Deford's condemnation of Michael Vick, or at least glaring omission. Dog fighting, and unethical "hunting" practices account for such an infinitesimally small fraction of total "animal torture amusements", (to use Frank's words) in America today. Industrial meat production is much bigger, and much worse.

Given the choice, I would much rather live my life walking around a "shooting preserve" munching grass until, one day, a truck drives up sticks a gun out the window and then BAM-I'm -history, than to live in a miserable cage in which I can't even move until the very day that I'm fat enough to slaughter.

Bear in mind, meat is "amusement" in that it is not necessary for survival, and indeed, is less healthy than non-flesh-based foods.

Deford is to be commended for his stance against certain kinds of animal cruelty. Yet it is breath-taking that he chooses to over-look the biggest animal cruelty problem in the world, simply because he indulges in it.