Ask the NFL to Make Class on Empathy for Animals Mandatory

In August 2007, NFL quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges. The 18-page indictment gave gruesome details of the operation.

On September 18, 2007, Vick made a prearranged visit to PETA’s headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, to take the "Developing Empathy for Animals" course, a one-day seminar on "who animals are," alternatives to cruelty, animal protection philosophy, and humane education.

PETA has now made the course available online and is urging the NFL to require all players to take the course.

Although the Vick story served as the first glimpse for many people of the gory details of the dogfighting underworld, the abuses detailed in Vick's indictment are as widespread as they are horrific. In the last year alone, PETA has responded to more than 14,000 calls and e-mail messages regarding other dogfighting and individual cruelty-to-animals cases. The crucial step now is to urge policymakers and law enforcement officers to treat all cases of dogfighting and cruelty to animals the same way that they handled Vick's high-profile case.

To that end, please use the form below to join PETA in asking the NFL to require that all its players, some of whom have been involved in a series of cruelty-to-animals cases, attend PETA's "Developing Empathy for Animals" course and to take cases of animal abuse seriously in the future by updating its policy on personal conduct.

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