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I first responded to this right after Michael Vick's arrest. This is an update.

My first contentions still hold.

Dog fighting is illegal-and should be. In my opinion, it is a crime to purposefully make any creature suffer pain. Sure, I know dogs aren't human, but anyone who has owned a dog knows that they are sensitive creatures with feelings much like our own. If you've ever seen an injured or abused dog "yiking," cringing or running away, you know that dogs definitely suffer pain.

The truth is that some dogs are being bred to fight. Why? Probably for the same reason that some people love to have extremely combatant "guard" dogs even if they have little or nothing to guard. In my opinion, keeping attack dogs of any sort should be a criminal offense, even if they aren't being put into open rings to fight each other. There just have been too many cases of children being attacked by "guard" as well as "fighting" dogs - sometimes the owner's own children after years of the dear-doggie being "so wonderful" with children, but sometimes just some kid who can't read or are too arrogant to pay heed to the "Warning: Guard Dog" signs. Even the arrogant kids don't deserve to be savaged by a large dog's teeth.

I'm not advocating staying away from any breed dog a a simple family pet so long as you take your own and other children into consideration. Children aren't yet rational adults. They will pull ears, try to ride a dog or tease it. Truly aggressive breeds probably aren't what you want if you care about children.

Don't get me wrong. I have met lovable Dobermans and German Shepherds, Chows and flat-out Pit-Bulls. Guess what? All of the owners of these supposedly aggressive breeds were just as pleasant and loving as their animals. Being what they are, dogs do tend to "obey" and become what their owners wish. Personally, I don't dislike my fellow humans, or the other dogs in the world, so I certainly don't want to own any aggressive or fighting canine.

As for Michael Vick...he was sentenced, but to my mind it was the proverbial "slap-on-the-wrist" and not truly fitting the seriousness of his offense.

Learn more about this author, Margaret Shauers.
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