Vick warns DC crowd away from dogfighting

WASHINGTON (AP)—Michael Vick(notes) told a sparse crowd at a Washington church on Tuesday that dogfighting is pointless and he doesn’t know why he risked his career for it.

“I got caught up in the culture,” the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback said at Covenant Baptist Church, in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. “I never thought that I would get caught.”

The former Atlanta Falcons star was released from federal custody July 20 after serving 18 months of a 23-month sentence for running the ring in Surry County, Va.

The church appearance was sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States. Vick has been working with the group since his release and has appeared at similar events in Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia.

“I used poor judgment. I had people around me who didn’t have my best interests at heart,” he said.

When he played for the Falcons, Vick said, he would go home every week to fight dogs.

“For what reason, I don’t know to this day,” he said. “Something so pointless.”

Vick played for the first time Sunday since December 2006. He carried once for 7 yards, threw two incompletions and either handed off or was a decoy on eight other plays in the Eagles’ 34-14 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Vick, who came to the church with his fiancee and their children, said he feels lucky to be alive after being involved in a dangerous subculture.

“Who knows what could have happened at 3 in the morning when you’re fighting dogs?” he said. “It’s almost like being involved in the streets, dealing drugs, in criminal life.”

Vick referred to himself as “an animal rights advocate,” but said little about dogs or other animals during his speech.

That task was left to Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society.

“We really do believe that all the animals here are God’s creatures,” Pacelle said.

The talk was supposed to be geared toward young people, and the Humane Society said it invited students from several neighborhood schools. But only about half of the several dozen people who turned up for the event were children or teenagers.