If Eagles quarterback Mike Vick owns a dog again, he’s not saying so. Which means he owns a dog again.
“I’m here to strictly talk about football,” Vick said Wednesday, via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, when asked the “yes” or “no” question regarding current canine ownership. “What goes on in my personal life is not to be talked about. What’s most important right now is the Philadelphia Eagles and getting the win Sunday.”
Correction: What goes on in Vick’s personal life is only to be talked about when he wants to talk about it, like when he’s selling a book that delves into his personal life.
The fair conclusion to be drawn from Vick’s “no comment” on whether he has a dog is that, yes, Vick has a dog. Which makes sense, given the tweeted-and-deleted photo of Vick and his daughter doing their respective homework, with a box of Milk Bone dog biscuits on the table.
Vick later replaced the photo with a similar shot, sans Milk Bones.
The fact that he won’t talk about owning a dog demonstrates that he recognizes the potential consequences of making it known that he owns a dog. Though Vick’s probation has ended and thus he’s free to own a dog, the fact that he apparently does invites comment on whether he should, given that he confessed to engaging in a six-year pattern of dogfighting -- and that he admitted to killing multiple dogs in cold blood.