Michael Vick, dogs, and wives

Everywhere I turn I'm hearing about Michael Vick's pending guilty plea to dog fighting and related charges. And everywhere the story pops up, people are talking about how strange it is that so much attention is being given to somebody who allegedly fights and kills dogs, when much less attention is given to battered wives. CNN's legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, called this reporting phenomenon a "sad thing."

There's nothing strange or "sad" about it, because a wife can do the following things, but a dog cannot:

1. Leave. (Anyone pity a woman beaten twice by the same man?)

2. Hire a lawyer.

3. Buy mace or a gun and take down the tormentor.

4. Call a brother or uncle to knock the man around.

5. Invoke rights enshrined in the constitution.

6. Call the police.

The Orlando Sentinel's editors showed they don't understand the difference between dogs and women when they published this:

Now that Michael Vick has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges relating to charges involving a dogfighting ring, a little perspective is in order.

Most everyone, it seems, bleeds sympathy for poochies and puppies. But what about battered wives and girlfriends? The NFL and other pro sports have a notorious history of hand-slapping athletes who have delivered blows to loved ones with excessive force. Why isn’t there greater outrage for battered women?