Sen. Byrd (D-W.Va.) Calls Dog Fights 'Barbaric'

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Associated Press

By CHARLES BABINGTON

WASHINGTON (AP) - Allegations of a vicious dogfighting ring prompted an unusually emotional speech in the Capitol Thursday, as the Senate's longest-serving member fought tears and called for God's judgment on those who promote such activities.

"Barbaric," Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., shouted four times in a Senate chamber that was mostly empty except for two dozen somewhat startled tourists.


Dog pens and houses are empty in a fenced area behind a home owned by Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in Surry, Va., in this May 31, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

"Let that word resound from hill to hill and from mountain to mountain, from valley to valley across this broad land," he thundered, raising his right hand. "May God help those poor souls who would be so cruel. Barbaric! Hear me!"

Federal agents have charged Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and three others with procuring and training pit bulls for fighting in Virginia and elsewhere. Investigators say some losing dogs died in the pit or were later electrocuted, drowned, hanged or shot.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070720/D8QG00FG0.html

[CountAllVotes]

1. Good for you Sen. Byrd!

Please, I ask of you Sen. Byrd to please shut down the puppy mills and the auctions! They are just as brutal and just as inhumane! They are beyond barbaric!

Shame on America for allowing this to continue. You Sen. Byrd now have yet another mission. You Sir, I ask you to please STOP THE CRUELTY against man's best friend by passing a FEDERAL law banning puppy mills and auctions. This will prevent dogs from falling into the hands of the people that go on to learn, exhibit, and alas, rejoice while committing such horrific acts.

I commend you Senator! :thumbsup:

:dem: :kick:

[LuckyLib]

2. Thanks for your concern, Senator. Now if you and your colleagues could get outraged and tearful

over the losses of both Americans and Iraqi civilians.

[QC]

4. Byrd has been a vocal critic of the war since Bush first began pushing for it.

Perhaps you hadn't noticed.

[pitohui]

7. byrd has been a vocal opponent of this admin and this war for a number of years

i'm not going to shit on the senator because he has proven that he doesn't just "pander," he has spent a lot of time fighting *co

if it was some wanna-be saying "fuck, yo, dogfights are bad" i'd be the first to crap on his happy ass, but byrd has really been fighting to get the message out for a number of years about the evil doers and not just dog fighters but mr bush too

[earthlover]

6. I suppose you don't think it is possible to oppose cruelty to animals and also oppose war?

So what, pray tell, are you saying? That it is ok to be barbaric to animals because there is a war going on?

[QC]

23. No. One can only care about one issue at a time.

And when someone's one issue is not the same as mine, then he or she is an asshole traitor sonofabitch.

It's gotta be true--I learned it on DU.

[bluestateguy]

8. Byrd most certainly has

and he was no Johnny Come Lately either. He opposed this war from the very beginning.

[aaronbees]

12. Thanks for your concern, CLW, but did you miss this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMjpPKslZz0

"This administration has turned the patient art of diplomacy on its heard, turned the patient art of diplomacy into threats ... this reckless and arrogant administration has initiated policies which may reap disastrous consequences for years. Will we seize Iraq's oil fields, becoming an occupying power which controls the price and supply of that nation's oil for the foreseeable future? There are some who think so. Frankly many of the pronouncements made by this administration are outrageous. There's no other word. Yet this chamber is hauntingly silent. Silent!" - Sen. Byrd

[Judi Lynn]

13. Really good, intense collection of clips from Sen. Byrd's speech.

You'd think any Democrat would have an awareness of where this man stands on that war, wouldn't you?

There was never any doubt about him, long before most others dared to commit themselves publicly.

I particularly enjoyed seeing the great discomfort on the face of the presiding scum, Saxby Chambliss, when Sen. Byrd reminded them that _Bush referred to certain Heads of State as "Pygmies."

Thanks for that chance to see those remarks again. Hope any visiting non-Democrats will avail themselves of the chance to review it for their own education.

[LuckyLib]

14. I'm well aware of Byrd's history opposing the war. I just want the congressional chambers

to see the same heart-felt passion regarding the war. Opposing cruelty to animals goes without saying.

[hallcr3]

3. Cruel, but not for Congress

Yes, dog fighting is inhumane but definitely not worthy of Congressional minutes. Quite frankly, all of the Congressmen who are wasting time on steroids in baseball and dog fighting - Republican or Democrat - will not be getting my vote this November. This is ridiculous. We're in the middle of a pointless war, have a widening class/income gap, the U.S. dollar is weaker than ever, Global Warming, rising education and energy costs and hundreds of topics that should be discussed in the Capital Building before "dog fighting" is brought up.

[Critters2]

9. I expect Congress to fight animal cruelty AND stop the war

and improve education and create initiatives to fight global warming and hundreds of other things.

[outofbounds]

5. I feel

pretty sure that congress can do more than one thing at a time. If they wanted to. Animal cruelty is a crime.

[razors edge]

10. Wonder what he thinks about

my brother's dog pen in Fremont WVA? He keeps blue ticks and beagles in a small overcrowded elevated pen with a chain link floor for hygienic purposes.

I think most here would feel it cruel, they do have a working shelter from the elements but they are never in sight of a residence, never played with, never fed from a clean bowl, never taken in for the winter no matter how bad it gets. They are working dogs, not pets, and it has been that way in Byrd's state for hundreds of years.

I grew up near there myself, I used to feed my neighbor's fighting cocks every morning before school, my first job. They still fight them and a drive through the countryside will almost surely involve driving past a large cleared area with neatly aligned rows of upside down 55 gallon plastic drums and a tethered rooster for each one. It is the culture of these people, they don't see it as inhumane anymore than the Filipinos have problem with eating dog.

I don't care for any of it myself, but growing up around something removes the shock value I guess. I have never attended a staged fight of any animal nor would I, just seems stupid to kill an animal because your bored and want to bet on something. They made fun of me for breaking up accidental fights.

I really like Senator Byrd, but I think he could do more for the issue with a reasoned public service commercial to educate people in is own state.

[MadAnne]

16. Who's "these people"? n/t

[razors edge]

25. Owners of fighting cocks,

I think that was pretty clear if you read the paragraph.

I have never attended a sport match, but I have found dead birds who got together by accident when nobody was there to stop them. Broke up many fights in the yard as young birds come into their own around the old pros, still have the scars to this day from being spurred in the finger tips. Skipped school with permission from the principal when a chicken hawk was spotted so I could sit with my 12 gauge and kill them when they struck, usually killing the chicken too, but better one than twenty. The hawks bust open the skull and suck out the brain to kill quickly, probably better than dying in the ring for that matter.

I have nursed a few losers back to health for breading, if they had been good fighters and earned some good money. A rooster with nothing but a beak on a bloody skull is not a pretty sight, but the birds are tough and sometimes hang on long enough to bread, albeit blind and deaf . Of course they have to be as good as or completely dead for the fight to be stopped, most surviving losers were killed.

I was fourteen and it paid cash, no taxes, and all the chicken your family wanted.

If you thought I was referring to people like my brother, I wasn't, he has all the goodies for the dogs, tracking collars on GPS, etc. He is an avid and excellent hunter and can tell you the name of every plant in the woods, track kill anything worth eating or mounting, and somethings not, but he eats them anyway, cultivates ginseng, not easy, and is one hell of a cook.

He is not a backwards assed country fuck, he makes a damned good living as a pipeline installation supervisor, has hand built several beautiful homes on his 120 acres in the mountains for his children, he works when he wants, rides the mountains on one of his four-wheelers for a month when he wants, goes on cruises to the Bahamas twice a year, I'm jealous.

[peacebuzzard]

11. Senator Byrd has a voice for the oppressed.

We thank you Senator, for your voice.

[ryanmuegge]

18. Like MBNA?

Sorry. I just feel like that particular vote is completely egregious for someone that calls themselves a Democrat.

[peacebuzzard]

19. the credit card/bank system?

Senator Byrd has been outspoken on so many issues of importance and now, this one makes this man a hero in my book.

[Dulcinea]

15. Dog fighting is barbaric.

It's beyond me how anyone could think watching dogs, chickens, or any other animals fighting to the death is entertaining. It's sick! And these animals have to be put down if they can't fight; they're bred & trained to be killers. WTF is wrong with people?

[ryanmuegge]

17. no shit, Pops. I thought you vote for the bankruptcy bill in '05 was much more barbaric.

[Tanuki]

20. Sen. Byrd doted on his dog Billy Byrd, and gave this moving speech about animal welfare in 2001:

http://www.awionline.org/pubs/quarterly/Fall2001/byrdstatement.htm

[dflprincess]

22. Y'know, listening to the clips of his speech on dog fighting

I was thinking that he must be a man who had a dog (or dogs) that he had loved dearly.

[orleans]

21. oh, this is so....sad? sweet? i can't quite place it but there is something

that almost makes me want to cry here:

Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd, eyes glistening, delivered an emotional speech on the Senate floor a short time ago expressing his disgust, anger, and sadness over the allegations in the Michael Vick pit-bull case.

Byrd has often spoken on the Senate floor about how much he loves his small dog, especially since the death last year of his wife of 68 years. While emphasizing that he wasn't commenting on the particulars of Vick's case, Byrd lashed out at the practice of dog-fighting. "The training of these poor creatures to turn them into fighting machines is simply barbaric." Shouting and waving his hands, he repeated the words "Barbaric!" and then said "Hear me!"

"I am confident that the hottest places in hell are reserved for sick and brutal people who hold God’s creatures in such brutal and cruel contempt." After the speech, Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy -- who has two dogs of his own -- went up to Byrd and said, "Great speech, Bob." And the two went on to talk about their dogs.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/07/19/278997.aspx

maybe, in part, because i look at robert byrd and i'm always afraid for him to get worked up or emotional

[spanone]

24. I totally agree. Barbaric is a good place to start.