ASI’s Executive Director Ken Shapiro op ed, “Vick needs counseling, too: It’ll help him break the cycle of violence,” published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Michael Vick’s prison sentence is an unfortunate but necessary consequence of engaging in illegal animal cruelty. The judge’s order includes jail, fines, probation and drug treatment, but failed to include an important element that would hasten Vick’s personal and professional redemption: psychological counseling to understand why Vick ever considered fighting and killing dogs acceptable in the first place.
As a psychologist, I have studied animal abuse for 15 years and have seen firsthand how a cycle of violence victimizes animals and people alike, including the abusers themselves. This “violence link” forms a behavior chain stronger and more dangerous than any pit bull.
