Michael Vick

David Von Drehle of Time says:

...A number of people have argued that the punishment is far too harsh, given that pit bulls have been bred over several centuries to fight and that, after all, these are just dogs in a world where worse cruelties are suffered by humans. And why should a killer of dogs go to prison while butchers of hogs go to the fair?

All good points. Perfect consistency may be too much to expect, however, from our veneer of civilization. The Vick case isn't about children of farming; it is about suffering and death as entertainment. A modern gladiator, of all people, ought to know what's wrong with that.