On July 27th, Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, expressed appreciation and gratitude to Nike for suspending its commercial relationship with Michael Vick.
"The allegations against Michael Vick are so serious and disturbing that The Humane Society of the United called on his corporate backers to end their commercial relationships with the star player ," said Mr. Pacelle. "We are very pleased that Nike has today signaled it has a zero tolerance policy for athletes who may be involved with staged animal fights and other forms of malicious animal cruelty by indefinitely suspending its relationship with Vick."
Nike's statement reads as follows:
"Nike has suspended Michael Vick's contract without pay, and will not sell any more Michael Vick product at Nike owned retail at this time. As we've said before, Nike is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent. However, we do believe that Michael Vick should be afforded the same due process as any citizen in the United States, therefore, we have not terminated our relationship"
The HSUS last week renewed its request of Nike that it terminate its commercial relationship with Michael Vick after the federal government presented a 19-page indictment in federal court. In the past week, more than 165,000 HSUS supporters sent messages to Nike through www.humanesociety.org.
Also today, Reebok agreed to stop selling Michael Vick-branded products. The company does not have a contract with Vick, but has an official relationship with the NFL to sell its merchandise.
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