Animal cruelty can be found in Monmouth County
Michael Vick, star quarterback of the NFLAtlanta Falcons, has brought international attention to a heinous and cruel "sport" which secretly takes place on a daily basis right here in Monmouth County and across America.

As the chief humane law enforcement agency in the county, the Monmouth County SPCA investigates hundreds of animal abuse cases each year. Our investigators are no strangers to dog fighting and cock fighting in our own community.

This horrible activity often goes on unnoticed by many until someone of Michael Vick's celebrity brings it to the national forefront of attention. Dog fighting and other acts of deliberate animal cruelty are not something which only takes place in the backwoods of rural Virginia.

Sadly, thanks to Michael Vick, national public outrage is being directed toward this frequent, yet under-reported form of cruel and senseless violence. Let us not forget the helpless "victims" of this cruel "sport" and lose our sense of moral outrage after the jail door closes behind Mr. Vick.

And as for Michael Vick, there simply is no defense.

Ursula Goetz

Executive Director Monmouth County SPCA

Eatontown