Friday sports page in their local paper and let out a scream that
startled their dogs--"What's wrong with him? Is he OK?" My
Philly Eagles had signed Michael Vick. Non-YMCA appropriate language
passed through my mind as I tried to get my head around this horrible
(to me) event. Why'd my team sign another QB? And if they needed
one, why this villain??
Later that morning, my hosts and I sat around their kitchen table
completing a task they do most weeks for a local animal shelter:
looking at pictures of dogs about to be made available for adoption at
a shelter, and coming up with names for those who were surrendered or
found as "nameless" dogs. Brought back memories of my being involved
in mid-atlantic Rhodesian Ridgeback rescue. . . .
As I drove home along the NJ Turnpike and I-295 early Saturday
morning, I listened to sportstalk radio out of Philadelphia. Clearly,
I was NOT the only fan thinking about chucking his Eagles. Later in
the day, I heard a sports reporter on the radio talking about how he
wished people would channel their protests.
The guy's name is Ray Didinger, works for Comcast Cablevision, NFL
Films, and radio station WIP in Philadelphia. He and his wife are
active in bulldog rescue, too
( http://www.heavensentbulldogrescue.com/ ). He often talks about the
dogs he and his wife have fostered before they're sent on for
adoption. Didinger's comments were the first rational response I'd
heard on Philly airwaves about the Vick signing.
Anyway, his take on the signing of Michael Vick was pretty
interesting. Of course he found what Vick had done to be deplorable.
Of course he was taken aback by the signing at first. Of course he,
like the Eagles management, is taking a wait and see attitude to see
just how pro-active Vick will be in becoming a spokesman for animal
rights. But he also expressed frustration with how Eagle fans/ Animal
Lovers were expressing their outrage.
As Didinger said, going and standing outside the Eagles' practice
facility chanting and waving signs might make you feel better as you
vent your wrath, but wouldn't it be better if you felt moved to go
volunteer at a shelter or contact one of the many fine rescue
organizations that help abandoned and abused dogs and see what you can
do to help? He talked for a solid 3 minutes about the positive
difference people could make if they could channel their outrage at
Vick and the Eagles into action or contributions to help animals.
Anyway, as Ray Didinger suggested, if any of us hear people grumbling
about the situation, we could use the Vick incident as a way of
mobilizing people we hear PROTESTING into some positive action. Hear
people professing their love for animals? Then we could help them
channel their energy not into making anti-Vick protests but into
working with shelters and rescue organizations.
Maybe Didinger's point is just too commonsensical. Maybe I've become Pollyanna the Gullible. . . .
But it made sense to me--whether you support Vick's second chance or
would support more punishment--we in the dog community can use the
Vick publicity as a chance to mobilize action in support of the
animals most in need of our help.
So, if I were the Emperor, I'd have already had Mr. Vick in the studio recording PSA's against animal cruelty.
