Michael Vick's incident with dog fighting and gaining proceeds from these fights is looked at by most of society as inhumane and cruel. The torture and slaughter of innocent dogs for ones pure entertainment and financial gains is clearly illegal and looked at as just plain out wrong. On the other hand it really may not have been as wrong as what most of the public perceived it as.
Vick grew up in a financially depressed and crime stricken area from birth until he went away to college at Virginia Tech. Think about growing up in an area for the first 18 years of your life and the only way of life you know is how people live in that poor crime stricken area you've been enclosed in for your whole life. Where Vick grew up many illegal things were just a way of life, somewhat of a culture he developed throughout the years from living in his surroundings.
One of those illegal things Vick and many other people around the world growing up in the same sort of culture witness is dog fighting. It is a staple to many poverty stricken communities to fight and place bets to gain money on the fighting skills of dogs. Although it is illegal, in small communities it is often looked over as a normal activity and has a very strong underground system in which it operates under.
Not knowing any better because this is how he was raised for the first 18 years of his life, it may of been hard just to suddenly drop such activities that have been part of his social culture since before he could remember. Many NFL teammates and opposing players who have grown up in the same sort of situation supported Vick by this very argument.
This does not change the fact that dog fighting is illegal, but past personal history and the culture someone grew up in should be looked at and taken into consideration before the extent of charges are distributed upon an individual such as Michael Vick.
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