Bad Newz Kennels

While Michael Vick was screaming toward the sky, a black pit bull named Mel was standing quietly by a door. On this night, like many other nights, Mel was waiting for his owners to take him outside, but he couldn't alert them with a bark. He doesn't bark. He won't bark. The bark has been beaten out of him. While Michael Vick was running for glory, Mel was cowering toward a wall. Every time the 4-year-old dog meets a stranger, he goes into convulsions. He staggers back into a wall for protection.

What does Michael Vick want for Christmas? A dog, apparently. Don't panic: He's not allowed to get one until 2012, when he finishes the probation that followed his nearly two-year prison sentence for running a dog-fighting ring. But there's much anticipatory anxiety in the air nonetheless. It all started this month, when the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback told a group of children at the Boys and Girls Club of Newark, N.J., that he longed for a canine companion "more than anything in the world.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick urged high school students in New Haven, Conn., to show kindness toward animals, adding to the string of appearances he has made since returning from a dogfighting conviction to become one of the NFL's most exciting players. Vick has spoken at several schools since his release from federal prison in what has been described as an effort to ensure some good comes out of his negative experience. At Hillhouse High in New Haven, he told an audience packed with students that he has matured since his involvement with the Bad Newz Kennels dogfighting enterprise on his property in rural southeastern Virginia.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick urged high school students in New Haven, Conn., to show kindness toward animals, adding to the string of appearances he has made since returning from a dogfighting conviction to become one of the NFL's most exciting players. Vick has spoken at several schools since his release from federal prison in what has been described as an effort to ensure some good comes out of his negative experience. At Hillhouse High in New Haven, he told an audience packed with students that he has matured since his involvement with the Bad Newz Kennels dogfighting enterprise on his property in rural southeastern Virginia.

What does Michael Vick want for Christmas? A dog, apparently. Don't panic: He's not allowed to get one until 2012, when he finishes the probation that followed his nearly two-year prison sentence for running a dog-fighting ring. But there's much anticipatory anxiety in the air nonetheless. It all started this month, when the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback told a group of children at the Boys and Girls Club of Newark, N.J., that he longed for a canine companion "more than anything in the world.

Dogs rule. The writers of ABC's "Lost" know that. In the series finale, they gave viewers an unforgettable, tear-jerker scene: Vincent the lab stays at the side of the dying Jack. Jack's not alone. When he breathes his last, viewers knew that Vincent would be there. Dogs symbolize many things, not always positive ? more on that later ? but the meaning most often associated with them, whether on "Lost" or this publishing season, is loyalty ? loyalty of epic, almost mythic, dimensions.

KANAB, Utah -- Two months ago, Shadow was one uncooperative pit bull. He had no interest in toys placed in his kennel and would firmly anchor his paws in the middle of walks, refusing to continue. The dog wasn't being stubborn. He was frightened, adjusting to getting lavished with affection and attention after having survived the bloodthirsty world of dogfighting. Shadow and 21 other pit bulls are living at a southern Utah animal sanctuary where handlers hope to undo the mental damage done at Michael Vick's Bad Newz Kennels.

I wonder how many of the people who are so self-righteously condemning Michael Vick for his cruelty to animals are doing so over a lunch including a hamburger or hot dog produced from the flesh of animals who suffered no less cruel a fate than that of one of Vick's dogs. ALBERTO CARRASCO Apple Valley * Anyone who would name a place "Bad Newz Kennels" is bad news themselves. JEANINE D'ELIA Granada Hills

My heart goes out to the dogs that suffered the savage cruelty at Michael Vick's prison camp for dogs. What surprises me is the leniency of the maximum penalty for such inhumane savage behavior. Vick should be barred from playing in the NFL until after the trial. If he's found guilty he can play in a prison league where the style of play is more suitable for his talents.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Anyone who has an ownership stake in one of the 53 pit bulls removed from Michael Vick's Surry County property this year has until Thursday to file a claim. So far, no one has stepped forward. The dogs were seized by the federal government as part of the dogfighting investigation that started on Vick's property in April. Surry County Animal Control removed 66 dogs from the property, but the U.S. District Court in Richmond has filed suit to take only the 53 pit bulls.

While Michael Vick was screaming toward the sky, a black pit bull named Mel was standing quietly by a door. On this night, like many other nights, Mel was waiting for his owners to take him outside, but he couldn't alert them with a bark. He doesn't bark. He won't bark. The bark has been beaten out of him. While Michael Vick was running for glory, Mel was cowering toward a wall. Every time the 4-year-old dog meets a stranger, he goes into convulsions. He staggers back into a wall for protection.

Dogs rule. The writers of ABC's "Lost" know that. In the series finale, they gave viewers an unforgettable, tear-jerker scene: Vincent the lab stays at the side of the dying Jack. Jack's not alone. When he breathes his last, viewers knew that Vincent would be there. Dogs symbolize many things, not always positive ? more on that later ? but the meaning most often associated with them, whether on "Lost" or this publishing season, is loyalty ? loyalty of epic, almost mythic, dimensions.

KANAB, Utah -- Two months ago, Shadow was one uncooperative pit bull. He had no interest in toys placed in his kennel and would firmly anchor his paws in the middle of walks, refusing to continue. The dog wasn't being stubborn. He was frightened, adjusting to getting lavished with affection and attention after having survived the bloodthirsty world of dogfighting. Shadow and 21 other pit bulls are living at a southern Utah animal sanctuary where handlers hope to undo the mental damage done at Michael Vick's Bad Newz Kennels.

Michael Vick got a head start Monday on a possible long prison stretch Monday, surrendering three weeks before he was to be sentenced for his involvement in a bloody dogfighting ring. The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback surrendered to U.S. marshals and is being held at Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Va., until his sentencing Dec. 10.