Michael Vick, once one of the highest paid players in the National Football League, was sentenced to 23 months in prison for financing a dogfighting ring and helping to kill pit bulls that did not fight aggressively. According to court documents, dogs that failed to show enough fighting spirit or lost matches were executed. Some dogs died by electrocution and others by hanging or drowning. Vick’s stunning downfall from NFL superstar to disgraced dogfighting defendant culminated Monday in a 90-minute sentencing hearing in federal court in Richmond, Virginia.

More than 50 pit bulls were seized from Vick’s property in June. I can’t even imagine having a couple dogs let alone OVER 50! This guy has to be crazy. Who in their right mind could actually kill a dog for being too nice? I think he should be zapped with electricity once a day, every day, for the 23 months he’ll be in prison. If you ask me I think he should be locked up for a LONG TIME. Anyone who can be so cruel to an animal would have no problem hurting another human being.

Read the full article from CNN.

[tags]Dogfighting, Michael Vick, Animal Cruelty[/tags]

A 66-year-old veterinarian with a murder conspiracy conviction now faces an animal abuse charge in southeast Missouri.

Forty-five dogs, a cat and 2 cockatiels were seized last week from Jonathan Wilson’s home in Kennett.

Ok, this story is just crazy. A vet is mis-treating animals? On top of that, he’s got a murder conspiracy conviction? Authorities seized 45 dogs from the vet’s home! I can’t imagine how twisted you would have to be to think you were doing these animals a favor. This guy was convicted of trying to hire a hitman to kill his wife and only served a year! He should have his license revoked permanently and spend some time in jail. If he did less than a year for trying to have his wife killed I can’t imagine how minor this will be.

[tags]Pet News, Animal Cruelty, Animal Abuse[/tags]

What would a dog say if it could talk? “Stranger”, “fight”, “walk”, “alone”, “ball” and “play”, according to scientists who have developed a computer programme to translate dog barks.

The special programme analysed more than 6,000 barks from 14 Hungarian sheepdogs in six different situations.

The software is designed to recognize different dog barks to identify things like “play”, “ball”, “strange”, etc. but so far is only accurate about 43% of the time. With more time and research they could possibly get this to a much higher success rate. I doubt this could get to the point where we are having 2-way conversations with a dog, but it could certainly have some very fun and interesting applications.

Daily Mail has the full story.

[tags]Pets, Dogs, Science[/tags]