Richmond Animal League head says Vick can help dogs

The NFL's decision to reinstate disgraced quarterback Michael Vick hasn't been a popular decision with many animal-rights groups -- but not all of them.

The head of the Richmond Animal League this morning called on fellow animal-rights activists to put aside their personal feelings about Vick and embrace his ability to reach people on the subject of preventing animal abuse.

"We need for it to not be about us or how we feel about Michael Vick," Susan Kelly said. "The fact is it does none of us any good. It doesn't do the animals any good, our own personal dislike for Michael Vick."

She said Vick is in a unique position.

"Before him, nobody talked about the blood sport of dogfighting, and he's really brought the whole issue to the forefront," Kelly said. "He has been given a second chance.

"And we need to let him capitalize on that chance, because he can get in there and get the word out. Whether we like it or not, people still identify with him. He still connects with people."

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday said Vick, assuming he can find a new team to sign him, can begin working out immediately and could play in a regular-season game as soon as Week 6.

Vick was suspended indefinitely by the NFL in August 2007 after he admitted bankrolling the Bad Newz Kennels dogfighting operation in Surry County. He spent the better part of the next two years in various federal prisons or home confinement.

His release from confinement last week and his reinstatement to the league where he once starred have reignited negative feelings from many animal-rights activists about whether he is truly remorseful and deserves another chance.

Kelly said her personal feelings about Vick's worthiness of a future in the NFL are moot.

"Talk about the dogs," she said. "It needs to be about them. The only thing that matters now is he is out of prison and he needs to use his second chance.

"That's his debt to society -- to use whatever is in his power to prevent dogfighting."

Many of the surviving Bad Newz Kennel dogs have been or are being rehabilitated with an eye toward becoming pets. That group includes Gracie, a female pit bull that was used as a breeding dog at Bad Newz but is now living a life of luxury as one of several pets of a Richmond Animal League board member.

Gracie, by the way, is spending today greeting visitors at the league's shelter at 11401 International Drive in Chesterfield County, just south of Chesterfield Towne Center.

-- Joe Macenka