The angel reminds me that the Eagles organization doesn't attract problem players (aside, of course, from a fling with a certain wide receiver). They seem like a sound outfit. Andy Reid is a thoughtful guy. Jeffrey Lurie is a reported dog lover. If they can come to terms with hiring Vick, maybe I should, too.
And I recognize that the man has paid his debt to society. If there's a market for his services, he's entitled to make a living. Like the rest of us, he needs to eat.
But I also hear the word of the devil, or at least I read it, in "The Lost Dogs" by Jim Gorant, senior editor at Sports Illustrated, in which he chronicles what happened to the pit bulls owned by Vick and Bad Newz Kennels.
The good news is that 47 of 51 were salvaged. The bad news is what happened to them before that - because of Vick and his accomplices.
As Gorant describes it, the dogs would be forced into a square pit with low walls. On the ground was usually a rug meant to give the dogs better traction as they attacked. Sometimes the carpet was a light color so the bloodstains were more pronounced.
The dogs were restrained behind diagonal scratch marks in opposite corners of the ring.
At a referee's call, they were unleashed. Dogs that wouldn't fight were killed. So were the ones that lost. Often by horrifying methods that make helmet-to-helmet hits look like love taps.
Those that lived long enough to see Vick's arrest and conviction were physically broken.
Psychologically, Gorant told me in an interview last month, several maintained their serious aggression toward other dogs.
But most just lived in a constant state of fear. They were in such bad shape that even People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals doubted they could be rehabilitated.
Thankfully, most of them were.
