Animal Cruelty Isn't Judged on a Level Playing Field

And when they don't, well, they die.

Barbaro's leg could not be fixed, so he was eventually euthanized. For many broken-down racehorses, that can mean anything from lethal injection to having their throats slit -- killed just as surely as a wounded dog that can no longer fight.

Vick's farm was raided by agents from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the same USDA that permits the wholesale slaughter of cows, chickens, pigs and lambs.

Vick's case ought to be handled by a state's attorney, but it isn't. He is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. You'd think the guy had been caught smuggling a ton of heroin in the carcasses of dead poodles. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson is presiding. His previous experience includes hearing cases that involve people suspected of being al-Qaeda sympathizers or "enemy combatants."

Perpetrators of gun violence ought to be taken so seriously.

According to data recently released by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, nearly half of more than 10,000 guns recovered by law enforcement authorities in the Washington area came from Virginia. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people -- human beings, not dogs -- have been killed by these guns. But you won't find any gun manufacturers -- or even many killers, for that matter -- being hauled into court on conspiracy charges.

Apparently you have to be a dogfight promoter for that.

E-mail:milloyc@washpost.com