Forgive Vick, but don’t forget about dogs

The letter (Jan. 9, Ryan Ekland) stating Michael Vick should be forgiven is correct about two things: Vick completed his sentence and the law does not see dogs as having the same value as humans.

But he's missing the larger point.

Vick didn't merely condone and participate in dog fighting. He tortured dogs to death. If a dog didn't perform well enough, it was electrocuted, hung by the neck or taken by its paws and slammed into the ground until it was dead.

He participated in unspeakable cruelty and now, because he's a gifted athlete, we're expected to forget this and allow kids to see him as some sort of role model. Read the book “The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption” by Jim Gorant.

Maybe Vick should be forgiven, but we shouldn't forget.

Jeremy Freese

Cedar Rapids