The tragedy of the death by pit bull of beagle Phoebe, whom I fostered, is symptomatic of a festering cancer in our society, a cancer fostered by the rap and hip-hop culture of dog fighting, illegal drugs, violence, filthy language and thuggish behavior. Celebrity scum like Michael Vick and rapper DMX are only the tip of an ugly iceberg. Now we are told that our local animal shelter and humane society are overcrowded with pit bulls which are unadoptable.

Thus all of us, including homeless dogs and cats, have to pay a heavy price for this cultural of violence.

It isn't PC to even mention the problem. The Atlanta NAACP and Jesse Jackson supported Vick. Nobody wants to speak on behalf of the thousands of murdered dogs or millions of young lives destroyed.

The giants of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King and Medgar Evers among others, gave their lives for equality and opportunity, and this is the result: street thugs running nationwide dog-fighting and gambling rings and promoting foul language and violent behavior.

I'm glad Dr. King did not live to see what has happened to his dream.

Robert Gaines
Greensboro