Michael Vick was given a 23 month sentence for his dogfighting operation. This was a Federal charge, and he?

will do the time at a Federal Prison in Virginia, however when he gets out, probably in 18-20 months, he could face state charges from Virginia for dogfighting. Do you think the sentence is too light or too harsh? I say it's about right. Considering, he has lost his job, his home, pretty much all of his money and his life, this sounds to be about right. I'm also comparing this sentence to the very light sentences that many people get on the Houston Animal Cops show, where people routinely get 2 days and $1,000 fine for literally starving their pets to death through neglect, i.e. horses, dogs and cats. What do you think?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Ao...

I think the punishment is just about right. It's strict enough to be an example of what will happen to others if they follow suit. I have absolutely no sympathy for any person that harms an animal and feel they should all burn, but in a country where people get away with murdering human beings with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, it's not realistic to expect harsher punishments!

ultimately, a conviction and sentencing is to rehabilitate the individual, so do you think that this is actually going to make that big of a difference to him? its too light, make an example of him...

His career is ruined, that's plenty of punishment. He was the ringleader of the operation that is why he got so much time, if he was just a participant then it would be far less maybe a few months

I think it's great that he received this sort of punishment, but I would have liked to see it be even more severe. What he was doing was sickening, and I would think you would have to be a mental case to do those things to an animal and not feel any sort of remorse. I find it disturbing that a "sane" person thinks that this is okay behavior.

Personally, I'd rather have seen him hung up and tazered and all the things he did to those dogs.

Dog fighthing is a vile, evil thing and people need to see that they will be punished for doing this. It's about time the rights of animals were upheld.

I hope he never plays again. If I saw him on the street, I'd probably spit on him (and then run like hell).

Oh, and Beth from below - you are a moron. Obviously you know nothing about dog fighting. There's nothing natural about it.

The sentence he got was a slap on the wrist. He may have lost his job, his house and 20 months of his life....But C'mon...It's Mike Vick!!! He'll be back on the field in 2 years, like Ricky Williams and people are still gonna throw money at him when he comes out. Shoot I'll give him a contract when does his time. People would want to pay to see if he can still do it. Plus he's a natural athlete!! His skills won't diminsh that much. There will still be a 7 digit contract figure wiating for him though it probably won't be Atlanta.

Here's a guy at the top of the NFL quarterback food chain in terms of merchandise sales, popularity, explosiveness, and so on and he gives it up so that he can get his dog freak on? No one has fallen so much so quickly than Michael Vick. The judge smacked him with 18-24 months (23) because he lied to the judge about taking part in the dog killings plus he told the police that he had not been smoking the electric lettuce when he was on bond but later told an FBI agent that he smoked it only 24 hours earlier. Bottom line = he still doesn't get it. Memo to Mike: Yo, Mike...this is REAL. You're going to be unemployed a long time because after and assuming you DO get out, the NFL suspension will still likely be another year or two and those legs won't be getting any younger. Good luck in your next career whatever that is but probably never again in the limelight.

He deserved more!!! Boo Hoo, he has finacial issues now, I'm so sad. NOT!!! Hes a killer.....

I think just because he has money he bought his way out. I think the charge is too light. He is a sick man.. and I am tired of celebrities buying their ways out of every thing all the time.
I wish I could buy my way out of stuf.. In fact it dont even matter if I have a lot of money I cant buy my way because I am not famous. It is insane how they get away with everything.. look at OJ free with murder... it is a sick and unfair world

Will any of this "loss" Mr. Vick faces bring back the innocent lives that were needlessly squandered in the name of his greedy, sadistic pleasure?

I don't think Mr. Vick - and those cruel people we see on Animal Planet - will ever ever begin to repay what they owe. All we can do is to have enough faith to believe that those kinds of people will answer to someone much bigger than we are.

I think the sentences for any animal cruelties should be made stronger. Longer sentences and higher fines. His sentence was about right, losing everything he had including a lucrative career was a great lesson for those who also indulge in dogfighting.

I think it's a fair sentence. It's more than just starving the animals. It is verrrry cruel! My sister, my brother and I each have a pit bull. They are the most loving dogs I know. We do not fight them nor will we ever. Their personalities are trained by the way you raise them. If you raise a black lab - all caged up and hang a raw bloody piece of meat in the tree for them to get... beat it, starve it and everything else, do you think that dog will be nice once it's done being tortured? Highly unlikely! Anyways, what Vick (and every other person that fights animals) did is absolutely cruel and disguisting. If you can't treat a dog properly, then what's the point of having it? I love mine to death, he's definately my pal and I can not comprehend WHY anyone would do that to animals! But, I also can't comphrend why most people are who they are and do what they do also.

I think in addition he should have 15000+ hours mandatory volunteer work with animal rescues, shelters and animal control so he can see what these poor animals go through and what measures have to be done to save them, if they can even be saved. I work in a shelter and a lot of our animals are surrendered but sometimes you get 100+ dogs being spread between like3 or 4 shelters when someone gets busted, and all these dogs are malnurished, have open sores, terified of people, it's just heart breaking. There are times when the effects of what the abusers have done is irrevercible. He should have to see that up close and personal. He should have to see what he was putting these poor animals through.

Also, I saw a picture of a little boy holding up aposter supporting him, telling him to keep the faith and I was just disgusted by it! These are the people that he has influenced, this little kid (and his parents, I would assume) see nothing wrong with what there magnificant football star can do. It's sick!

As far as how harsh is sentence was in comparison to what you see normally, I do think he was being made an example of because he's a public figure.

Too light--they also said he could be out in 3 months for good behavior which is total BS!

I think he got what he deserves. These ar mre serious charges than neglecting animals. He actually killed 6-8 dogs because they couldn't kill other dogs. The charges would have been different if he had just let the dogs die of starvation. He physically killed the dogs. He also got more time because dog fights are illegal. He was using his own money, the fights were at his house and I am SURE he was there for at least some of the fights. These are far more serious than leaving your dog abandoned (which I still think is wrong). This is someone that had WAY WAY WAY too much to loose by doing what he did... You could tell me that I would make my money back and add 5x as much and I still wouldn't do it.

He has lost soooo much (contract, family, house, cars, money) so this sentence will give him time to really reflect. I hope he invested his money wisely in other, more legal ways (he's going to need it)

Frankly, despite being a liberal Democratic I tend to take a very tough view on crime when it comes to sports, not necessarily in terms of jail time but in terms of total reprecussions. My gut level reaction is always to see the maximum penalty imposed, whether it be Barry Bonds or Michael Vick or Todd Bertuzzi. Sports is a seperate system than law, with its own punishments and its own sense of proportion. In other words just because Michael Vick doesn't deserve life in prison doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to be banned from life for the game of football, because the question in the latter case isn't "How much damage did he do in the world?" It's "How much damage did he do in the world of football?" Michael Vick will be tried in federal court for abusing dogs and knowingly allowing them to be viciously murdered. But he'll be tried in the court of the NFL comissioner's office for shaming the sport of football, overshadowing other people's hard work and amazing accomplishments with his hideous behavior, potentially costing the sport millions of dollars in lost viewer support and for leaving a lasting scar both on the NFL and on the Atlanta Falcons organization that everyone has to bear the brunt of, not just Michael Vick himself. I think the federal sentence on the dog abuse charges was too lenient, but I think it would be perfectly appropriate for the NFL commissioner to ban him from the game of football for life once he gets out. What he did is certainly no better and arguably much worse than what Pete Rose did, or Shoeless Joe Jackson. He shouldn't pay a lesser penalty.

I think Michael Vick should have gotten a lot longer of a sentence, for what he did to those poor, innocent animals.This is just a little slap on the wrist! He may have lost everything, but that's his own fault. He created his own problems himself! I don't think Vick will even learn a lesson from this prison sentence! He's a coldblooded, and heartless individual, and who's to say that once he gets out, he won't go back to starting another dogfighting ring, since he loves torturing animals so much! I wouldn't put it past him, to do that!

I say it's too light!

People admired him, and he let down millions of fans...not to mention the fact that what he did was horrible and disgusting!
He should have gotten the full 5 years...or better yet, two years for every dog he killed, and then another year for each dog he ever forced to fight! That's a whole lot of years!

I'm glad that he is losing everything. He deserves it. He is one of the horrible scumbags that give Pit Bulls a bad name. I hope that he never gets to play in the NFL again. I don't care how many times he apoligizes to his fans. I want him to apoligize to the innocent dogs that he hurt. I want him to apoligize to the dogs he brutally killed because they weren't mean enough for him.

Michael Vick is scum, and I wish his jail sentance was longer. We don't need this kind of person walking around in the streets.

Sentence is too light.
I say this because he did not learn yet that he is not above the law since he failed a test for marijuana use not too long ago.
Glad he still has state charges to face.Hopefully that time will run consecutive to the time he got today and not concurrently.

He deserves it, although is kind of short

Federal time is day for day; there is no time off for good behavior. If Virginia decides to prosecute on state charges, he could get ALOT more time, depending on the judge. Not sure about VA law, but most likely, he wouldn't have to do all of the time (he'd be eligible for time off for good behavior, prison over crowding, ect.).

By waiting to prosecute until after he finishes with his federal time, the state of Virginia is making sure he will do the most time possible.

Too short.Much too short.

Not surprised at the sentence not surprised at all.
A very hard lesson learned; such as in this case...I think he will have some time on his hand to rethink his future hopefully when he get's out he'd rethink his extra curriculm activities.

On that note: THE COLTS ARE NUMBER ONE!!

A dog is a dog. They fight. I am confused why a dog is valued higher than a human.