Two years ago, Michael Vick committed murder — countless murders, in fact. He brutally tortured, beat, drowned, and strangled innocent beings. Even though they were technically of the canine persuasion, they were alive all the same — that is until Vick got a hold of them.

In 2001, Vick and a few friends decided to start up their puppy-exterminating organization, Bad Newz Kennels, in Virginia just for the fun of it. After a few years of forcing the dogs to fight to the death, and slaughtering the ones who “weren’t ready” to fight, Vick injured his knee and was forced to sit out the season. Meanwhile, he became careless with the law and the police caught the scent of their not-so-covert operation. With a name like Bad Newz Kennels how could they go so wrong?

After the cat got out of the bag about their little establishment, Vick and his friends were sentenced to a mere 24 months in the slammer. Manslaughter gets you 25 years to life in jail. Vick massacred countless defenseless animals and was off scot-free after just two years behind bars.

One of the most interesting methods of execution used by Vick and his cohorts was a strategy used to train the fighting dogs (dog lovers and owners may want to skip to the next paragraph to avoid nightmares for the next five years). A puppy no more than two months of age would be muzzled up so as to render him completely defenseless, and then the dogs would compete. Whoever destroyed the puppy the fastest was the victor. Defend that, Frankie.

Dog fighting is a felony in every state except Wyoming and Idaho. Surprising, I know. Vick’s choice of location for the operation, Virginia, not only means that he wasn’t clever enough to outsmart the law but also that he probably didn’t think he was doing enough wrong to be punished. With this attitude, there is no reason for Vick not to repeat his brutish actions.

The issue here is not whether or not the league should allow Vick to play; it’s whether the world is a safer place with him locked up securely in jail. Sure, he can run the ball all day and he accurately throws the pigskin seventy yards, but can he resist his tendency to beat the skin off dogs?

My dear friend Mr. Pavia will feed you some baloney about how Michael Vick was born to play football and seeing a talent like that go to waste would be a sin. Well, killing is also a sin and a much greater transgression in the eye of anyone but a Michael Vick fan. So if you want to support a murderer, no one is here to stop you.

This weekend when I turn on sports center and see highlights from the Eagles game, I will hug my dog a little tighter. While he is man’s best friend, he is also Michael Vick’s worst enemy.

Click here to read He Said: Convickt? or Contricked?