A tiny bit of credit for Mike Vick

While I’ve never been a Michael Vick fan, and almost certainly never will be, he deserves a bit of credit for speaking out against an appalling dogfighting video game that rednecks can download to their cell phones.

In what likely has more to do with the continued rebuilding of his image than his genuine concern about the issue, Vick urged that we “not glorify this form of animal cruelty,” in a statement posted on the Humane Society website.

Apparently, “Dog Wars” involves raising and training a dog for the ring, then entering it in fights. Granted, this is a video game and not nearly as disgusting as actual dogfighting, but the premise sickens me, nonetheless. The game’s developers have opined online that people are overreacting. After all, it’s only a game, they say.

That part is true, but anyone dumb enough to download such a piece of trash is probably dumb enough to think there’s nothing wrong with real-life dogfighting.

Violent video games are big sellers, and I must admit I’m a big fan of shooting people in the “Call of Duty” games on PlayStation 3. It’s difficult to explain, but dog lovers tend to take much more offense to fake violence against animals than fake violence against people.

So while I still doubt Vick truly has seen the error of his dogfighting ways, I appreciate the fact that he’s publicly decrying this awful excuse for a game.