Michael Vick tells high schoolers ‘I think I’m being used by God’

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The Michael Vick partnership with the Humane Society’s ‘End Dogfighting’ campaign made stops at two high schools in Connecticut on Tuesday to encourage America’s youth to be kind to animals.

The Philadelphia Eagles star quarterback says that kids are more likely to listen to what he says about animal cruelty because they’ve seen where he has come from -- namely 18 months in prison -- due to his activity with Bad Newz Kennels.

Before his arrest for racketeering Vick said he was blind to animal rights, but he now sees the light. ‘I didn’t really care what people felt about animals,’ Vick told the students about his lack of emotion while involved in dogfighting with pit bulls. ‘I didn’t care about the welfare of animals.’

But that ignorance has been turned into a blessing from on high, the NFL star said, which includes a tightening of legal restrictions across the country once the spotlight turned to lax laws surrounding dogfighting and minimal fines. ‘I think I’m being used by God,’ Vick said, ‘because all the laws have changed since my incident.’

‘In my opinion he means what he says and this is a healing process for him’ Caleb Levy told News 8 in New Haven, Conn., after Vick spoke to Wilbur Cross High School.

Vick was joined on stage with Wayne Pacelle, a New Haven native, who happens to be the president of the Humane Society of the United States.

[Correction: An earlier version of this post misidentified Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels as Bad Boyz Kennels. We’ve corrected the error.]

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