Pet Party Line is a column written by Beth Byrd and is featured weekly in The Citizen News, one of our local newspapers.

On December 10th Michael Vick will be sentenced. He had the world at his finger tips. For SIX long years he committed heinous acts of unspeakable cruelty and exhibited incredible greed. Even with all of his money, attorneys, and public relations people, he has yet to say he is sorry. Earlier, he even told many close friends that he had a chance to beat the rap.

Good does come out of bad. in that people have come to realize that dog fighting is animal abuse at its worse. It’s torture and torment for profit. Vick and his friends didn’t just kill a losing dog - they tortured it to death. CBS News reported earlier that there are 40,000 to 100,000 animals used for this crime in the US today. Evidently one can find a dogfight in any town on any Saturday night. Hopefully, the good out of this will be stronger laws and more awareness. The country legend ,Willie Nelson ,recently filmed a TV spot supporting an anti-dog fighting bill that is moving through the Georgia Legislature.

I now quote the founder of Molly’s Militia in Augusta who said, Since the Michael Vick scandal, I have renewed confidence that most people in the US truly love animals. Condemnation of what Mr. Vick did to those dogs reached across political, racial and religious lines. Circuit Judge Edward Cottingham, of Charleston, SC, recently sentenced a man to 3 years in prison and 2 years’ probation for killing a 10-week old puppy by tossing him off a third story balcony during an argument with his girlfriend. After the trial, Judge Cottingham stated: ‘I’ve got to send a message to all dog lovers that we are going to protect that interest in our courtrooms.’ America’s response to the Vick case and men like Judge Cottinham make me proud to be an American. Visit an animal shelter, and you will not leave unchanged-- Elaine van der Linden.

Beth Byrd