But Vick's crime is different from most. He was convicted of running a business centered around the spectacle of dogs tearing each other to pieces. He was also convicted of electrocuting one dog, drowning another, and beating a third to death. Their offenses? They weren't very good at tearing other dogs to pieces.
The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback has indeed paid his criminal penalty, and that account is settled. What hasn't changed is that Vick is the kind of guy who had no problem beating a dog to death as punishment for its lack of fighting prowess. We may even wonder whether he took some pleasure from it, although we don't know that. What we do know is that his character includes a streak of savage cruelty.
That character flaw is particularly disgusting to many of us. But public disgust isn't enough to justify the argument that Vick has no place in Philadelphia.
More to the point, people who torture animals are dangerous neighbors. Consider:
In one study, 100 percent of those who committed murders involving rape or other sexual aspects had a history of cruelty to animals.
Almost 40 percent of animal abusers commit violent crimes against humans.
Sixty-three percent of men convicted of violent crimes admit to cruelty to animals.
Forty-eight percent of rapists and 30 percent of child molesters acknowledge episodes of cruelty to animals.
Men who have abused animals are five times more likely to have been arrested for violence toward humans, four times more likely to have committed property crimes, and three times more likely to have records for drug or disorderly-conduct offenses.
