Pet rescue group offers to donate dog food to shelters in exchange for tackles of Michael Vick

Pennsylvania-based Main Line Animal Rescue, known for its canny use of advertising on behalf of pets, is at it again -- and this time it's taking aim at Michael Vick.

Main Line is best known for a billboard stationed along Chicago's Kennedy Expressway that read: "Oprah: Do a show on puppy mills. The dogs need you."  Winfrey took the group's suggestion and aired an exposé that has been credited with opening many Americans' eyes to the conditions in which many dogs are kept in order to supply the nation's pet stores with adorable merchandise. Earlier this year, the group brought its message to Los Angeles, unveiling a billboard decrying puppy mill conditions and urging Angelenos to adopt shelter pets.

Now Main Line has a new idea -- one that doesn't involve billboards, but instead targets newspapers in cities where Vick and his new NFL team, the Philadelphia Eagles, will play. The group's plan: Buy ad space in a city's newspaper shortly before the Eagles are to visit.

The ads (one of which has already run in the Washington Post) urge animal lovers to "Consider volunteering at your local shelter on the day of the game. Spend some time walking, or brushing, or bathing, or hugging a homeless Pit Bull." Future ads are scheduled to appear in San Diego, Chicago and New York.

Michael Vick speaks to Philadelphia high schoolers about making good choices

Michael Vick spoke to a group of 200 incoming freshmen on their first day of classes at Nueva Esperanza Academy, a charter school in North Philadelphia, earlier today.  In his speech to the students, Vick used himself as an example of the dangers of succumbing to peer pressure rather than being a leader -- but, at least in the portion of the speech shown in the above video, mentioned the dogs he abused and killed only in the most tangential ways. 

"Growing up, I had dreams and I always wanted to have this great, lavish life and make it to the NFL, go and accomplish great things and leave a great legacy. That was my goal from a young kid," Vick told the students. "My future was promising . . . at some point, I got sidetracked. I started listening to my friends and doing some things that were not ethical and not right." 

Vick urged the students to make good choices regardless of the choices their friends and classmates make, according to the Associated Press.  (We'll assume more specific advice like "Don't electrocute a dog," "Don't forcibly drown a dog" and "Don't put a family pet into the ring with a trained fighting dog because you think it'd be entertaining to see what happens" were implied, if not specifically addressed.)

Vick attended the event with Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, with which the quarterback struck an unlikely partnership earlier this year.

RELATED:
Michael Vick to be eligible to play beginning third Philadelphia Eagles game of the season
Video: Michael Vick speaks to Chicago youth about dogfighting

-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: Associated Press

Sporting goods chain Dick's says it won't stock Michael Vick jerseys

Dick's Sporting Goods, the largest publicly traded athletic store chain in the country, won't be selling football jerseys modeled after Michael Vick's anytime soon.

"We have not seen enough demand from Eagles fans to stock the jersey," Jeff Hennion, the company's chief marketing officer, said in an interview with Bloomberg News. "We have no problem stocking the jersey if the demand is there." 

Hennion told Bloomberg that Dick's plans to use calls to its customer service center, searches on its website and in-store requests in the greater Philadelphia area to determine the level of consumer demand for the jerseys.

Another large jersey retailer, NFLShop.com, doesn't share Hennion's level of caution.  Not only can shoppers purchase Vick jerseys for themselves on the site -- they can also purchase jerseys for their dogs. 

Michael Vick will be eligible to play beginning third Philadelphia Eagles game of the season

Michael Vick's reinstatement in the NFL will be official -- and no longer "conditional" -- as of the Philadelphia Eagles' third game of regular-season play, our colleague Sam Farmer reports.

The announcement was made after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's meeting with Vick earlier today, which reportedly lasted the better part of an hour. After the meeting with Vick, Goodell met with the man who's acting as his mentor, former NFL coach Tony Dungy, for 45 minutes.

"Hopefully we can have a success story here, which would be good for society in general," Goodell told ESPN of Vick. "He's realistic about the challenges ahead. And anxious to play football."  From ESPN:

During their meeting Thursday, the topic of Vick's past experiences and why he got involved in dog-fighting came up. One of Vick's representatives was explaining it, when Vick stepped in and took responsibility. "He was genuinely remorseful," Goodell said.

Goodell said he did discuss with Vick the report that he was seen drinking an alcoholic beverage in a restaurant at the hotel where he was staying. Goodell said it was not a violation of his probation.

"It highlights the tremendous microscope this man is under," Goodell said. "He understands he has little margin for error. It served as a useful lesson."

When Goodell first announced that Vick would be allowed to return to the NFL, he said he wouldn't consider offering him full reinstatement until the sixth week of league play, in mid-October.  It's unclear what caused him to change his mind and push up the date of his official reinstatement.

RELATED:
Video: Michael Vick talks to Chicago youth about dogfighting
Michael Vick to work with Humane Society on its campaign against dogfighting

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Vick smiles after the Eagles win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the preseason game at Lincoln Financial Field on Aug. 27. Credit: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images

Michael Vick to learn today when he will be fully reinstated in the NFL

Back in July, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that Michael Vick would be allowed to return to professional football, albeit on a "conditional" basis.

Vick's prison sentence for dogfighting had only been completed for about a week when Goodell made his announcement, although Vick had served the last few months of his sentence at his Newport News, Va., home.

Now, just a week after Vick's first exhibition game with his new team, the Philadelphia Eagles -- and, we might add, with only a few appearances on behalf of the Humane Society of the United States' End Dogfighting campaign under his belt -- our colleague Sam Farmer has learned that Goodell is poised to announce his decision about when he will be fully reinstated in the NFL. 

Vick is in the New York area for another exhibition game tonight, this one against the New York Jets, and has plans to meet with Goodell while he's there. 

Video: Michael Vick speaks to Chicago youth about dogfighting

Michael Vick returned to the football field last week in a preseason game between his new team, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Jacksonville Jaguars.  But the convicted dogfighter is also busy off the field, fulfilling his end of the bargain he struck in May with the Humane Society of the United States to work with the group on its End Dogfighting campaign.

Anti-dogfighting advocate Tio Hardiman said he was moved by Vick's recent Humane Society-sponsored appearance in Chicago, at which he spoke to young people about the perils of the blood sport. "I saw tears in Vick's eyes," Hardiman told our colleague Kurt Streeter. "You could see him struggling with the emotions when he talked to the kids. He told them what he did was something they shouldn't follow. These kids, some of them had never heard this message put the way he did."

Of course, not all animal advocates are convinced by Vick's apparent change of heart; after his appearance last month on "60 Minutes," American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals President Ed Sayres was one particularly vocal critic of Vick and CBS News' portrayal of him on the program.

The show "provided a convicted criminal a national platform to selfishly focus on his own recovery when, in fact, the animals, the victims who cannot speak for themselves, should have received the attention," Sayres said in a statement. "CBS did a grave disservice to the animal welfare community by failing to show the ugly truth of Mr. Vick’s actions and the horrors of dogfighting and animal cruelty in this country."

Michael Vick returns to football with mixed reviews

Convicted animal abuser Michael Vick returned to pro football last night as his new team, the Philadelphia Eagles, played their first preseason game. Although Vick is suspended for the first few regular-season games, he is allowed to participate in preseason games as they are considered exhibition games.  Pro- and anti-Vick Eagles fans attended the game at Lincoln Financial Field, some of whom carried signs of support or protest.

Although Vick only was on the field for six plays, his presence was notable because he took a few snaps at quarterback, lined up as a wide receiver, and the southpaw even threw a pass right-handed. Vick completed all of his passes to the delight of the fans, his coach and his teammates. 

But how about the infamously critical Philly fans who even once booed Santa Claus at an Eagles game? The Associated Press reported that they were supportive of Vick from the beginning.

Philadelphia Coach Andy Reid didn't wait long to use Vick. The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback jogged onto the field for the second play from scrimmage, lining up as a wide receiver, and got a hearty welcome from the notoriously tough Philadelphia fans.

"When I was running out onto the field I was listening to see what the reaction was going to be," Vick said. "I was very pleased. I really didn't expect that reaction, but I was very thankful."

Photos from sign-toting fans after the jump.

Michael Vick chew toy and doggy jersey keep the Eagles QB in the news

Easily the most controversial figure in the NFL is the recently signed quarterback Michael Vick, who spent the  last year and a half in federal prison for dog fighting charges.

Public outcry at his reentry to pro football was widespread, spawning protests at his new team's training camp and creating an interesting market for T-shirts and pet toys.

Two of the more interesting "gifts" you can get for your dogs are a chew toy made in Vick's likeness and a shirt you can order from the NFL. Although the $17 toy is a bit of tongue-in-cheek revenge, the shirt is clearly a mistake.

The ever-enterprising people at the NFL.com site decided to meet the need of football fans who wish to dress their dogs in the colors of their favorite teams. What they didn't count on was the league's reinstatement of the convicted animal abuser. Combine those two facts with an automated jersey-maker and voila: the most politically incorrect fashion statement for your four-legged friend.

The question on the table: Should the NFL pull the option to select Vick's name and number from the doggy jerseys, or should it, as others have done, accept the idea that the quarterback has paid his debt to society and move on?

Or should the league appease those who will be surely offended by such merchandising by donating the profits of the Vick dog jersey to animal shelters and the like?

-- Tony Pierce

Related:
Oakland couple rescues Vick's pit bulls
Sports Illustrated features Michael Vick's pit bulls
Animal advocates react to the Philadelphia Eagles' signing of Michael Vick

Photo via NFL.com

Animal advocates react to the Philadelphia Eagles' signing of Michael Vick

The news that Michael Vick has signed with the Philadelphia Eagles is, understandably, sitting better with some than others. Some Eagles fans cheered the announcement;others planned to sell their season tickets after learning that the former dog-fighter would be playing for the home team. "If the Eagles are going to sell out, then so am I," one seller wrote in a Craigslist advertisement offering tickets for $2,000.

For his part, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie says the decision to sign Vick was an agonizing one that he didn't make lightly. "The question eventually I had to ask is, 'Going forward, is Michael going to be a negative force in society the way he's been?' " Lurie told our colleague Sam Farmer.  "Is he going to be responsible for pain, suffering, disappointment, disloyalty, criminal behavior? Or is he going to have an opportunity and be committed enough . . . [to] become a force for good?"

Eventually, of course, Lurie decided to gamble on Vick, who is not only controversial and baggage-ridden but also hasn't played in a professional football game since 2006. That decision is already reverberating through animal-loving circles -- an "Eagles fans against Vick" group on Facebook had hundreds of members within 24 hours of the team's announcement. 

Another former Eagles supporter, Tilton Tighe, described herself as a lifelong fan when questioned by the New York Times.  "I cried," Tighe said of learning that Vick was going to Philadelphia. "Now I have to hate the Eagles. Now I don’t have a team to root for anymore. There's no possible way I could ever root for them again. It makes me sick."

Michael Vick, fresh from dogfighting prison sentence, signs with Philadelphia Eagles

It's official: Michael Vick is back in football. The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, disgraced after the revelation of his involvement in the violent world of dogfighting, has signed a contract to play for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Vick's deal commits him to one year with the Eagles, for which he'll make $1.6 million, Fox Sports reports. The deal includes an option for a second year, for which he would make an additional $5.2 million. (We hope he plans to donate a chunk of that to animal causes, but hey, that's just us.) With the Eagles, he'll apparently serve as a backup for regular quarterback Donovan McNabb, and Fox Sports hints that the Eagles' willingness to take on the controversial player may have been influenced by an injury sustained earlier this week by McNabb's regular backup. 

Vick's prison sentence for dogfighting ended last month, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced his conditional reinstatement in the league a week later. Since then, Vick has made two appearances -- one in Atlanta and one in Chicago -- on behalf of the Humane Society of the United States. His alliance with the animal protection group, with which he'll work to combat dogfighting, was announced in May.

The significance of Vick moving to Philadelphia isn't lost on the Humane Society's president and chief executive, Wayne Pacelle. "It's a city we've been looking at very closely because it has a major dogfighting problem," Pacelle said in a phone interview today with our colleague Sam Farmer. "So Vick's landing there has the potential to turn around the issue. This gives us a big boost."