A prosecutor, a sheriff and investigators are scheduled to meet Monday to review evidence collected in the weeks since dogs and equipment associated with dog fighting were seized from a home owned by NFL star Michael Vick.
No charges have been filed in the case, but Surry County (Va.) Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerald Poindexter said Wednesday as many as six to 10 people could be involved.
“I’m convinced from what I saw that dog fighting has occurred down there, but who was involved in it I don’t know at this point,” Poindexter said, noting that he saw what looked like blood spatters in a room over a garage. “We’re going to find out.”
Dog fighting is a felony in Virginia.
The Atlanta Falcons quarterback has blamed relatives for taking advantage of his generosity and insisted he’s rarely at the house – even though he’s the owner.
Kathy Strouse, the lead investigator, said informants indicated a tape exists of Vick at a dogfight.
“Let’s be very accurate here, because some of the reports out there are not accurate,” Strouse said. “We have information from informants that a tape exists of a dogfight and that Michael Vick is present. Whether that tape exists, we do not know that it exists.”
The case began in late April, when police conducting a drug investigation raided the house and found dozens of dogs. They also found items associated with dog fighting, including a “pry bar” used to pry apart a dog’s jaws.
Poindexter said the county seized some 60 dogs from the house. Several dogs had old scars, but by and large, the dogs appeared to be well- cared for, he said. Vick is a registered breeder, so “the mere fact that he had a lot of dogs doesn’t mean a whole lot,” Poindexter said.
Packers: Quarterback Brett Favre has changed his mind and now is expected to attend the team’s mandatory mini-camp this weekend, a person familiar with the situation said.
On Tuesday, Favre told the Biloxi (Miss.) Sun-Herald that because he is unable to practice while recovering from offseason ankle surgery, he planned on staying home in Mississippi to assist in preparations for his daughter’s upcoming high school graduation.
“They were going to have me sit out anyway,” Favre said Tuesday. “To be honest, we have (daughter) Brittany graduating in two weeks. Instead of going up there and not doing anything, I will be better off being at home because of graduation parties and banquets.”
Bears: Defensive tackle Tank Johnson met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss legal problems that landed the player in jail, but no discipline was immediately handed down by the league.
Meanwhile, defensive end Alex Brown told Sirius NFL Radio he asked the Bears for permission to work out a trade. But coach Lovie Smith said he plans to have Brown at a three-day mini-camp that begins Friday.
Texans: Kailee Wong, a linebacker for the franchise since its inception in 2002, retired after nine NFL seasons.
Vikings: Running back Adrian Peterson, the team’s first-round draft pick from Oklahoma, will not need surgery to repair a collarbone that was broken twice last season, an injury that may have caused him to slip to the seventh pick in April’s draft.
