Azaroth

Jeff Freeman decided to reply to my post below. Apparently, replies come in the form of main page posts on your own blog these days, so I thought I’d be just as hip.

After reading his reply, I’ll admit - it was a very clever writeup. Then, Jeff is a very clever fellow. Although I suppose he did just spend his time covering C) A trivial blog post on a trivial blog about excessive media coverage of relatively trivial events. I hope he knows how to profit from it.

One thing I would certainly dispute, however, is that the pitbulls Vick kept, mistreated and probably starved, in cages and bred to fight, were anything like the ‘best friend’ picture that you paint of the dog sitting beside you in the tree blind. I’d probably actually say that those dogs were about as close to ‘evil wolves’ as dogs get. Which, considering their genetic makeup, is pretty damn close.

And while I understand the point you’re making about people being shocked, and thus interested, and thus shown more for various forms of financial gain - what I can’t understand is why the entire process is seemingly being defended.

As friendly as dogs can be and as socially acceptable as hunting for sport happens to be, killing innocent animals for sport is killing innocent animals for sport. Separating the death of two different animals for sport isn’t as clean cut as some would enjoy it to be. Or pretend it is. Ever seen a coyote shot three times only to crawl away and die a painful death somewhere alone in the snow? Is that less fucked up because coyotes are separated from dogs through various types of breeding?

As far as OJ Simpson, you’ve got a point. People certainly paid attention to that. It was also a made for TV event that was piped into every home from Tennessee to Timbucktoo - and possibly the most important factor is that his innocence was disputed and the trial became a sporting event in itself with people rooting in black and white jerseys. I didn’t see the wall to wall news coverage when Rae Carruth shot his pregnant girlfriend in the face and left his unborn child with cerebral palsy. It was a little too clear that he was guilty when he was found living in the trunk of a car and pissing in bottles after skipping out on bail.

In fact, I bet the average person would furrow their brow and stare blankly at you if you asked them today who Rae Carruth was. And that’s Da Troof.

Sports figures do cocaine, definitely not a big deal. Sports figures rape women and give them aids, I guess that happens. What a jerk. Sports figures murder people, and aside from just about one exception, nobody really gives a fuck. That shit happens.

One of these guys is involved in dogfighting, and people organize marches and print t-shirts. Maybe you’re right, maybe that’s because it’s new and shocking to people. But I’m going to take a wild guess that if tomorrow Michael Vick ratted on ten other NFL players involved in dogfighting, people wouldn’t likely refer to it as apathetically as they do to a little thing like murder. In fact I’m pretty certain that the story gets bigger, more shirts are printed, more people are marching. Probably on Washington, demanding a full investigation into ‘the dogfighting problem’. Ten years from now, if every player in the NFL is running his own dogfighting ring, I sincerely doubt there’s a lack of coverage or committees being formed. But every player in the NFL is on steroids, and even though this has a trickle down effect on our kids who are trying to achieve on the highschool team, Shawne Merriman is suspended for four games. He’ll have certainly learned his lesson, and I’m sure would not recommend the use of illegal steroids to anyone for the purposes of becoming a sports star and being rich, famous, and heavily laid.

Except the thing is that people fight dogs, people hunt animals, and people kill other people. As a society we’ve deemed one of these three things shocking and the rest either acceptable, cool, or BORING. In fact, the one that’s got peoples panties all in a twist currently happens to be the one that causes the least amount of death and suffering overall.

Now, I’d like to mention what may seem like your very best example. That people are upset about the cruelty to animals and the enjoyment of animal suffering. Assuming this is very nice. It seems like a good thing to assume, so I can see why you’d assume it. Although the big strike against Vick seems to be that he “personally killed up to four dogs”, at least according to what he was required to say with his plea bargain. So it’s more about the deaths of animals. Strangling and drowning those dogs. Which maybe he enjoyed doing, too. Of course, I’d then argue that many hunters thoroughly enjoy shooting animals. I’d say they celebrate it openly. But the killing of animals itself, the act, is not cruel. Apparently.

But the enjoyment of a sporting event that causes animal suffering, that may be what people are upset about. Who wouldn’t be. Despicable.

Now, while I can cite several other ’sporting events’ or otherwise that cause animal suffering, let’s use cockfighitng as an example. Because it’s basically the exact same thing. Except with roosters who have razors and spurs on their feet. This is where we see, through a parallel example, that the cruelty to animals doesn’t mean jack shit. Because nobody except PETA gives a fuck about cockfighting. And those nuts care about EVERYTHING.

Roy Jones Jr. talks openly about his cockfighting ring as an announcer during boxing events. The species card you pulled is actually the only answer in this situation. People are upset because its’ doggies that are involved, and for no other reason. People aren’t upset about cockfighting because it’s not doggies. People hunt and accept hunting, because it’s not doggies. Shit, you can hunt and kill just about anything you want. As long as it’s not doggies. But feel free to bring doggies along, because they’re great.

People can find empathy within themselves for dogs, but not other innocent animals. And it also happens that they, apparently, think dogfighting is a bigger deal than murder. At least in this day and age, and at least when it doesn’t affect them directly.

This is what leaves me confused. No matter how much I love dogs. And I’m not sure this makes me some kind of a dumbass as much as it makes people in general a little ass backwards.

And the thing is that people aren’t simply demanding more coverage because their reaction is “No way!”. They really have been out MARCHING, lining up outside courtrooms and screaming with little custom shirts. It’s really not about novelty, cruelty, or coverage. It really is about dogs, Geoff.