It's been the kind of week an activist dreams of.

John Goodwin, deputy manager of the Animal Cruelty Campaign for The Humane Society, has been in non-stop demand to talk about a subject that's consumed him since April: Michael Vick.

AP (ENLARGE)

PETA demonstrators outside the New York office of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell call for the suspension of Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.

Goodwin called on the NFL to suspend Vick after the Falcons quarterback was indicted Tuesday on federal dogfighting charges. It's a demand Goodwin has made in countless interviews.

"This is certainly the biggest dogfighting case in the United States, period," Goodwin said. "It certainly raises the stakes. There's a greater spotlight on the issue."

His Washington, D.C.-based organization, the nation's largest animal rights group, was getting bombarded with attention online as well.

"Our Web system that has forms for donations and sending e-mails to the NFL crashed today [because it was] too overloaded," Goodwin told an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter.

Goodwin paused the interview, then came back to the phone.

"Gotta go, I'm going to be on the 'O'Reilly Factor.' "

One of America's biggest sports stars is alleged to be connected with a pastime that features dogs ripping each other's flesh. Animals deemed cowardly are sometimes shot, hanged or electrocuted, as the federal indictment says happened to numerous dogs in the Vick case. It's a shocking story that will continue for weeks, if not months — especially if the animal organizations have their way.

They say they want to let the public know this gruesome pastime is growing. They need volunteers, they need political support for tougher laws and enforcement, and they need money.

The Humane Society of the United States, a national organization that is not connected to local groups like the Atlanta Humane Society, has plenty of money — $125 million in revenue in 2005. But more money is always needed to get the organizations' messages out, a menu of issues of which dogfighting is just one item.

Organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are capitalizing on Vick's celebrity and coupling it with some celebs of their own.

PETA enlisted hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and civil rights activist Al Sharpton to write a letter to Vick's sponsors, Falcons owner Arthur Blank and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell condemning dogfighting and other forms of violence.

"Celebrities are the mother's milk of these organizations," said David Martosko, research director of The Center for Consumer Freedom, an organization that represents food companies and restaurants and has often locked horns with PETA and the Humane Society.

He said the large animal welfare non-profits have "very sophisticated media operations with round-the-clock searches for stories" that will grab attention with the public.

"This issue will translate into millions of dollars. They will be counting on making money by direct mail and the Internet," said Martosko. "I'd be shocked if they don't raise millions of money with Michael Vick."

Patti Strand, national director of the Portland, Ore.-based National Animal Interest Alliance, agreed.

"Conflict fund-raising needs a victim and a villain so they can come in and save the day," she said.

Daphna Nachminovitch, PETA's director of Domestic Animal Issues, agrees that Vick's celebrity is drawing attention to both the issue and the organizations.

"As high-profile cases go, this takes the cake," she said. But it's not just about fund-raising for animal groups, she said. Raising public awareness is an important goal as well.

The subject of dogfighting draws visceral responses from people, and Nachminovitch is quick to talk about fighting dogs' harsh, cruel existence.

"These dogs are kept on heavy chains. They live on the same patch of earth, except to go fight or run the treadmill," she said. "They live in a prison and have been tortured."

PETA, which is demanding that Vick be suspended for the season, is receiving "hundreds and hundreds of calls because people are up in arms."

The day after the indictment, more than 6,000 people used PETA's Web site to get forms to contact the Falcons, she said.

Does this all mean more revenue?

"Not necessarily, but it would be nice. We are non-profit," Nachminovitch said. "This is not going away. We're going to make sure it's not going away."

Rhonda Evans, a criminal justice professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, said it's normal for activist groups whatever the cause — from abortion to the environment — to use high-profile cases to get people to support them.

"It's the right time for them to get people on board," said Evans, who investigated dogfighting in the 1990s and wrote a series of academic papers on the subject.

She expects the recent outcry to spur tougher laws on dogfighting and more prosecutions.

"As these non-profit groups get more powerful, they get more things done."

But oddly, Evans said, the Vick case could be a boon for dogfighting.

"It could go the other way. He is high-profile and could get support," she said.

Evans said "blood sports" like dogfighting started in Europe as an upper-class pastime, then spread to rural middle-aged whites and later, about 20 years ago, to young urban black men.

"It's considered a brave creature that will fight to the death. It's seen as an admirable quality," she said. "You could see kids try to emulate the sport. Just look at the pop culture. What's cool is what's negative."