Hunting equals dogfighting?

From the comments of Stephon Marbury and Clinton Portis concerning Mike Vick someone may need to do a little more digging into how many athletes are involved in dogfighting.

On Monday, New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury was in Albany, N.Y., promoting his brand of affordable sneakers. He was asked about Michael Vick, and said, according to Newsday:

"We don't say anything about people shooting deers and shooting other animals, you know what I mean? From what I hear, dogfighting is a sport. It's just behind closed doors and I think it's tough that we build Michael Vick up and then we break him down ... I think he fell into a bad situation."

"Shooting deers"?


And from an interview Portis did for WAVY TV in Virginia:

"I don't know if he was fighting dogs or not, but it's his property, it's his dog," Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis told WAVY-TV in Virginia. "If that's what he wants to do, do it. I think people should mind their business."

When told that dog fighting is a felony, Portis replied, "It can't be too bad of a crime."

I think the Marbury comment comparing legal hunting to dogfighting has to be the most ludicrous comment over the entire matter. I grew up hunting; my dad taught me to be respectful and responsible in every aspect from the trail to the kill. He has owned several hounds over the course of my lifetime. NEVER once can I remember him striking one of his dogs in anger or because they failed to perform well. Let's contrast this with what Mike Vick has admitted to being involved in.

RICHMOND, Virginia (CNN) -- Two co-defendants of Michael Vick say the NFL star helped execute dogs that didn't fight well, according to federal court documents.

The court papers, filed as Quanis Phillips, 28, and Purnell Peace, 35, pleaded guilty to dogfighting charges Friday, said all three men "executed approximately eight dogs that did not perform well in testing sessions" in April of this year by methods such as hanging and drowning.

Disgusting, barbaric, cowardly. I have one more question for Marbury. Do you think Vick ate the dogs he is responsible for killing? No? Well there's another difference between responsible hunters and dogfighting thugs.