Is the situation really scrwed up and evil? Sure. I don't think anyone disagrees with that. The REAL gripe I'm having here actually has nothing to do with Vick himself, just when was the last time we got this up in arms for OTHER PEOPLE!? Living or otherwise, fighting or not, cute or not, they're DOGS, the things we describe beggars and vagabonds as, they're not people!!!!! Don't read this as I'm inhumane or ignorant towards the plight of poor pet ownership (I'm sure Crono Eric can testify that it is indeed a massive problem) but rather...let's use this energy and focus to something for fellow man, not his best friend.
There are many issues in this world, and a great variety of individuals. Some people care about one particular topic or political position, the rest care about countless others. We should not take a perceived view of importance based on the superiority of one viewpoint over another, of one species over another, and use that to monopolize what we should or should not be talking about in the news, or what people should or should not care about. The fact is that out of that great diversity of individuals there are plenty that care about human affairs and will devote their lives to that cause, and there are plenty that care about animal affairs and will devote their lives to that cause. Whether one is more important than the other is completely subjective.
Michael Vick should and was punished for his brutal and inhumane crimes against animals. Whether that punishment is sufficient, I will leave up to others to speculate. That, I imagine, is primarily what the news is talking about nowadays. And it seems to me to be a perfectly reasonable, valid, and important thing to discuss.
However, I don't lie that if the news is going to be covering topics on the welfare of animals, and if PETA is going to raise hell about it, then I certainly wish they would cover more pertinent ones instead. Because as widespread as animal abuse is, it is nowhere near as widespread as heartworm disease, parvo, and distemper - fatal illnesses of dogs that I see nearly every day and that are due solely to the negligence/ignorance of their owners. A form of abuse in its own right, I've decided - by denying an animal under your responsibility the most basic medical care necessary for its continued well-being and survival.