Columnist Sandy Banks writes that pro football player and convicted animal abuser Michael Vick should be allowed to have a dog as a pet. She says Vick "needs a link to tenderness" and "to understand what it means to earn the trust of an animal."

Vick recently was allowed to play in the NFL again, and even President Obama said he deserved a chance to rejoin the game after he served a 19-month prison term for running a dog-fighting operation -- an opinion that brought swift criticism from animal rights groups.

"That would be like letting a pedophile be around children," a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said.

Yet, Banks writes:

It is easy to be outraged at Vick, whose dog-fighting ring was horrifically cruel. When police raided the farm he owned in rural Virginia in 2007, they discovered a pit, dog-fighting paraphernalia, the bodies of eight dogs and 66 surviving canines, many maimed and ruined.

The "Bad Newz Kennels" it was called. Ookie, as the federal plea agreement calls him, bankrolled the operation and ran it with his three partners, nicknamed T, Q and P-Funk.

Banks continued:

Michael Vick needs to get a dog because he needs a link to tenderness, not just a reminder of his toughness. He needs to understand what it means to earn the trust of an animal, and why his violations hurt us so much.

It's not about showing people you've changed, Michael. It's about actually changing. And after the Pro Bowl has been played and the season is done, watching late night replays with a puppy who is not counting your fumbles and interceptions might feel like a very good thing.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: The scene outside federal court in 2007 before NFL player Michael Vick's sentencing. Credit: Steve Helber / Associated Press

A man was arrested for allegedly hitting, kicking and swinging an 8-month old puppy around by the neck, using its leash like a lasso, at an Orange County Wal-Mart.

Verne Joseph Strong, 56 of Newport Beach was arrested Sunday in at a Westminster Wal-Mart parking lot after witnesses called police to report the alleged abuse, according to a news release from the Orange County district attorney's office. He entered a not guilty plea in the West Justice Center, an Orange County Superior Court in Westminster.

I had lunch this week with Fawn Weaver, an Agoura Hills woman who aims to counteract negative images of marriage in popular culture by enlisting 1 million women in her Happy Wives Club.

She's convinced there's a silent majority of wives like her "who love being married, adore their husbands and consider their union one of the greatest joys in life."

In my column today, I tell her story and share her tips for a happy marriage.

But our conversation got me wondering: What actually makes for a happy wife?

A study of 5,000 couples by two University of Virginia researchers concluded that the single most important factor in women's marital happiness is the level of their husbands' emotional engagement.

And the happiest wives were those who didn't work outside the home or whose husbands brought in at least two-thirds of the family's income, and those who share a strong commitment to lifelong marriage with their husbands.

That sounds like Weaver and her husband. And it jibes with suggestions offered by wives on her website.

The predominant view online was this: Make your husband feel respected and appreciated and he'll respond with the "emotional engagement" you need.

But how does that mesh with your reality? What makes a wife happy and a marriage satisfying? Is happiness a state of mind, or a day-to-day feeling?

All you happy – and unhappy – husbands and wives out there, tell me what you think.

-- Sandy Banks

A onetime congressional candidate accused of defrauding Orange County hotels, intentionally writing bad checks and stealing an expensive luxury car from a local dealership was sentenced today to pay more than $40,000 in restitution.

Delecia Holt, 48, of Aliso Viejo, was found guilty last month of nine felony counts. In addition to having to pay restitution to those she defrauded, Holt was sentenced to five years probation and 708 days in jail.

Holt ran as a write-in candidate for the 47th Congressional District in Orange County in 2005. She was a candidate for the 53rd Congressional District in San Diego the following year.

-- Jill-Marie Jones in Orange County

I've been puzzling over the antics of basketball star Gilbert Arenas, who scorched local courts here as a high school player but was benched by the NBA last week for gunplay with a Washington Wizards teammate in the locker room after a game on Christmas Eve.

The 28-year-old Arenas -- an NBA All Star who graduated from Grant High in Van Nuys – said that he was just joking around and that the gun was unloaded. But he's been suspended from the NBA, a Washington, D.C.,  grand jury is considering charges and sports fans are wondering if the league is turning outlaw.

So am I. This is only the most recent in a series of incidents involving athletes and guns. Half a dozen NBA players – including Clipper Sebastian Telfair, before he came to Los Angeles – have been arrested and/or suspended for gun possession in the last several years.

It seems stupid to me on so many levels; such a dangerous imitation of macho toughness. But then what do I know about guns? Not much.

So I made a trip this week to the LAPD's firing range.

I discovered that I'm a pretty good shot. That there is something thrilling about holding a gun. And that firing real bullets is nothing like playing Halo.

"Are you going to write one of those 'guns are evil' columns?" the LAPD lieutenant supervising my shooting session asked.

I don't think guns are evil, but I'm trying to figure out the fascination with them for Saturday's column. I'd like to hear from gun owners. Why do you love your guns?  If you have insights to share, let me know what you think in the comments below.

-- Sandy Banks