Animal welfare advocates have doubtless watched in amazement the unfolding hoopla of the Michael Vick case. How ironic. We have a celebrity involved, so at least for the next 15 minutes, people are outraged over animal abuse. Meanwhile, North Carolina's animal protection laws are among the nation's weakest.

Our local shelters would welcome even a fraction of the interest Vick's case has garnered when it comes to the pets who are surrendered, most of which will be euthanized. Instead, Vick will be a nine-days wonder, and after he is trotted off the stage of public outrage to languish in the prison cell he deserves, the forgotten victims -- the dogs and cats we have abandoned -- will still be languishing in their own prisons. Which is precisely where they were when the hoopla started.

If we have time to gawk at Vick being pilloried on television, we have five minutes to call our state legislators to ask what they plan to do to increase the penalties for torturing an animal in North Carolina, or why we can't pass a mandatory spay-neuter law or a comprehensive animal protection law.

Come on. Five minutes. Turn off the television, and do something that really matters.

Susan Woodhouse

Cary