Michael Vick Case

On April 25, 2007, agents raided the Surry County, Virginia home owned by Michael Vick, NFL’s Atlanta Falcons quarterback. The authorities reportedly discovered 66 dogs, 55 of them being pit bulls, blood stained carpet, a dog fighting pit, and equipment which is commonly used in dog fighting rings such as dog treadmills and scales, a pry bar used to open a dog's mouth and an instrument used for breeding. At the time of the raid, Vick was not present at his home but denied having knowledge of dog fighting taking place on his property.On July 17, 2007, a federal jury indicted Vick as well as three other men, Purnell Peace, Quanis Phillips, and Tony Taylor on charges of competitive dog fighting, procuring and training pits to fight, operating an unlawful interstate dog fighting business by the name of Bad Newz Kennels. The four codefendants each face $350,000 in fines and six years in prison if convicted of the federal charges. According to reports, Michael Vick had been staging dog fights since his rookie year with the Falcons in 2001.