TVSquad

Had you turned off your TV while Chris Rock was delivering his rant about Michael Vick? It's one thing to be supportive of Vick in his rehabilitation. It's another for Chris Rock to justify and glorify what Vick did! In doing so, he endorses cruelty to animals. Do you call this "entertainment", "sport" or "comedy"? Or, would that be your idea of Chris Rock being "on the money" and "hilarious"?

Have you considered the impact of Michael Vick's actions living animal victims – and their caregivers ? Do you realize the costs of rehabilitating these innocent victims?
The animals had no choice in the matter.Cruel "owners"
trained them to be viscious. Have you considered that there are fans of Chris Rock out there that will use his comments as fodder and egg them on to continue in the cruel practice of dog fighting in the future?

I have been a fan of Jay Leno for many years now and I
wish he would have interrupted Rock with a voice of reason and compassion. A more ethical talk show host would have. His "buddying up" to/with Chris Rock (and remaining "silent", while chuckling) as Chris discussed this topic was shocking, disgusting and unbelievable.

I hope Jay will review the tape and say or do something to "make this right" going forward!!!

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Linda, good for you. I had the same exact thought last night. I was also disgusted by Chris Rock's excusing of Michael Vick's crime, particularly because I am the owner of a bright, sweet and wonderful pit bull. Granted, Vick did his time. And though I never thought I'd defend the guy, I will give him credit for that. The part that really stung was when Rock claimed that Vick didn't even hurt "real dogs... they were pit bulls." Just nauseating.

And to be clear for Mark, my argument here has nothing to do with Rock's comparison between the value of an animal life vs. a human one. I believe they should be treated equally. I agree with his point that if Vick went to jail for hurting dogs, Polanski should get time for hurting a human. No one is arguing against that. The point is that there is enough bad press and stereotyping of the pit bull breed in this country. And for someone like Chris Rock to belittle the breed even further is irresponsible. There was a better way to get his point across without glorifying what Vick did, as Linda said.

I'm just glad my dog slept through his act.

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I agree with Linda and Heather. It actually seemed as though Jay was agreeing with Chris Rock that Michael Vick went to jail and had his career interrupted for 'only' hurting and fighting pit bulls. People need to remember that Vick took part in the hanging, beating and drowning of these animals as well as the fighting. There is nothing funny about any of that. Shame on Chris Rock and double shame on Jay Leno.

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Linda, Heather and Chris... amen to that! I was at one time a fan of his... no more after "justifying" what the monster Vick did! and this white vs. black crap is soooo old.... I really hope his movie tanks...

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chris rock = michael vick = jay leno = hitler = satan
don't listen to them, fire them from their jobs, send them to pakistan where killing is legal

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i am so sad that jay leno supports killing innocent dogs. i have had him on my recorder for years but now i cant stand looking at him even thru a channel surf. i hope he goes to a deserted island with chris rock and michael vick where they can turn their evil on eachother and leave the rest of us alone

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I was watching the Jay Leno show last night which I usually enjoy, but when I saw Chris Rock make those disgusting comments about Pit Bulls it made me really sick and I immediately switched the channel !! I cannot believe that anyone would justify or make a joke about the horrendous crime against these defenseless animals ! I think that maybe Chris Rock should be put in a pen with Michael Vick and the two of them could fight to the death and see which one of them was the better winner ! Maybe then they would learn something about compassion !

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I love Chris Rock and taped the show because he was on. When he joked Hollywood shouldn't be giving Roman Polanski a pass because he made good movies, but if he was Skully the pilot, he could get away with it...I turned it off and erased it.

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Mark, you should replay the video at jayleno.com. Chris mentioned at the beginning of his interview that he was hard-up for comic material and this proves it!

Chris Rock is completely, totally incredulous when he asks Jay: "What the hell did Michael Vick do?" He goes on to explain that the victims involved were, "a dog, a pit bull, not even a real dog". He rambles on with several racist remarks: "that's white stuff man; dogs are white man's best friend; dogs have never been good to black people." Next, he blames a "sniff-ass dog" for following him recently at an airport when he returned from Jamaica with some weed in his bags.

Michael Vick and his Bad News Kennel trained pit bulls to "fight to kill" over a period of 6-7 years. They practiced the worst type of cruelty to innocent animals. What kind of a man justifies such activities and thinks it's OK, just because they are not "humans"? If a person has some kind of deep-seated hatred for dogs, does that justify animal abuse? And should comics continue the offense by participating in dialogs which encourage this type of thinking and lead people to think it's "funny" or "OK"?

Have you seen the pictures of Vick's survivors...e.g. the trainer animals, mostly females with their teeth filed down (humans file young dogs' teeth down to nothing so the "future warriors" can train and practice on them)...or, the survivors with scars all over their faces and bodies? Many rescued dogs from all over the country suffer from these kinds of practices. Rescued dogs also suffer from post traumatic stress. Do you have a clue what wreckage and expense to society that the Bad Newz Kennel, et. al. have caused? If you somehow believe that animal cruelty is OK, that people like Michael Vick are entitled to express themselves that way, and have been treated unfairly by the courts who held them accountable, maybe you have enough ethics in you to condemn the practice because of "collateral damage"? Indecent actions like this are an insult to the human race as well as the animals involved!

I have been Jay Leno's fan many years (he's been my favorite talk show host) and I have never, ever, been more shocked or disappointed in him. I have always noticed that he was kind to the wild animal visitors while
some other talk show hosts are not.

This is not funny. I still can't believe it. I have actually lost sleep over it and I appreciate those of you who "see" and agree with the point I was trying to make. Thanks for commenting.

Linda

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Thanks Chris Rock and Jay Leno for endorsing animal cruelty just to "get a laugh".

People will soon learn that cruelty to any species on this earth is sad. Its not a matter of putting "humans first". The planet earth is out of balance - enviromentaly, human rights, animal rights - it is an integrated whole. I understand that not everyone loves dogs and animals in general - but adults and especially children should learn respect and compassion for all species. It's not "us" and "them" . Some humans feel that because were have a higher intelligence this gives us the right to abuse
those who can't defend themselves instead when we should be treating them with compassion. yes, this may sound unrealistic to alot of people who can't "think out of the box" or only think of themselves. I guess thats why the earth is in a state of constant war- people trying to live against the natural order of the earth.

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When supposedly intelligent people dismiss the absolute horror of dogfighting as being a near non-issue, I can only imagine that they aren't thinking of the reality of the thing. Dogfighting isn't just some nice quick skirmish and is quickly and cleanly decided---dogfighting is always surrounded by crime and criminals and sociopaths who find dogfighting a great excuse to torture dogs for performing poorly, and are largely responsible for the vast number of dogs found burned with chemicals and accelerants , set afire, that find their way into shelters, for the rest of us to care for or have to put down at the public expense. Dogfighters aren't doctors or veterinary professionals, they kill animals for losing in amateurish ways and create horrible deaths for dogs, and why improve? When the whole sport is about seeing dogs die in pain and fear? Michael Vick himself killed a losing dog by slamming it to the ground. Dogfighters steal pet dogs for fighting dogs to tear apart. Again, Michael Vick himself is on record as having done this and laughed about it. They electrocute them, set them on fire, drown them---someone who didn't enjoy hurting animals would systemetize this particular facet of the 'game', don't you think? But someone with a character issue, someone with someone wrong with them would like to keep trying new things....These dogs have terrible lives, they are underfed and kept dehydrated because it's believed they bleed less during fights. They are never given veterinary care by knowledgeable persons, though they live with terrible injuries. When they receive treatment, it's from some ignoramous with some veterinary drugs and equipment, though that surely takes as much a toll as the fighting itself. The lazy bastards seldom even seem to bury their messes, leaving dead and dying dogs all over for others to pick up out of trash heaps and dumpsters, to treat or finish killing off. They fight females, they fight puppies. They fight dogs who have injuries making it impossible to defend themselves. There's no system, no sport. It is just another way for cowards to have something or someone else do their fighting for them, allowing them to feel brave/bad by extension. Needless to say, the popularity of pickup dogfights on a street level makes for an absolutely enormous excess population of pitbulls who now form the bulk of the shelter population, creating crises in shelter funding all over the country, but making it easy and cheap for dogfighters to keep killing dogs. Pit bulls bred for dogfighting are generally, not always, going to be dog aggressive, and not easy to place in homes, nor will they be right for every family.
Dogfighting is never found without guns, drugs and gambling, and is completely a part of a criminal milieu. It is the ideal venue for the display of a character defect.
To people who say it's not important because it's not humans being hurt: wake up. The Holy Triad of serial killers, the three symptoms they all share: bedwetting, firesetting and cruelty to animals. A lack of empathy to animals is not unrelated to problems relating to people, it's part of a whole.
In a practical sense, no matter what Chris Rock says, dogs are unique on this planet for loving people and choosing to live with us, it is vile and barbaric to dismiss this ugly playground for sociopaths, dogfighting, as a nothing offense. It is vile and a horror, created for the entertainment of human monsters by human monsters.

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