Whoopi Goldberg: Animal Cruelty is Southern Cultural Heritage
Wednesday, September 5th, 2007By Andrew L. Jaffee
Dear Ms. Whoopi Goldberg, don’t tell me that torturing animals (dog-fighting) — “hanging, drowning, and slamming at least one dog’s body to the ground” — is an integral part of Southerners’ “cultural upbringing.” I’ve lived in the Deep South for about 5 years, visited family there many times, and vacationed there more times than I can remember. My experiences? Good, decent people, and beautiful cities, countryside, and beaches. So how did this dog-fighting controversy get started?
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was busted red-handed running a chamber of horrors for canines. Not only was he fighting dogs, but torturing them too, presumably for his own pleasure. From the Smoking Gun, including the federal indictment against Vick:
…After a March 2003 loss by a female pit bull, codefendant Purnell Peace, “after consulting with Vick,” electrocuted the animal. In April, prosecutors allege, Vick, Peace, and Quanis Phillips, “executed approximately 8 dogs that did not perform well in ‘testing’ sessions.” These animals, the indictment claims, were killed “by various methods, including hanging, drowning, and slamming at least one dog’s body to the ground.”
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