Animal activists want long term for Vick

Surry, Va. -- Animal-rights groups asked a Virginia judge to send former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick to almost five years in prison on dog-fighting charges.

The groups said this week Vick should be ordered to pay for the rehabilitation of fighting dogs found on his property, The Newport News Daily-Press reported.

Vick is scheduled to be sentenced in December after pleading guilty to conspiracy last month. He has been suspended from the NFL.

His plea bargain calls for a sentence of no more than 18 months.

Prosecutors said Vick and three others operated a dog-fighting business known as Bad Newz Kennels. The dogs were housed on property Vick owned in Surry County, Va., a rural area south of the James River, and he allegedly took an active part in the business, including killing dogs that did not show fighting spirit.

The animal-rights groups estimated that rehabilitating the dogs could cost as much as $10 million.

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Copyright 2007 by United Press International.