Remember the Michael Vick apology for the whole dogfighting mess? Well, it seems that when Michael left the podium after delivering his apology, he left his notes behind. Or, at least notes someone prepared for him. On hotel stationery, no less.

The Humane Society of the United States is now conducting an ebay auction of Vick's purported notes, with  proceeds to go towards eliminating dogfighting and other forms of animal cruelty. From the auction page:

This sheet of paper was discarded at the podium after Michael Vick's apology on August 28th, 2007 at the Omni Hotel in Richmond. Found by an HSUS employee, it appears to be Vick's own talking points from his first public statement after his guilty plea for crimes related to dogfighting.

Ironically, Vick never got to the last three words, "dogs have suffered", which had clearly been added as an afterthought.

This piece of memorabilia culminates the nation's most notorious celebrity cruelty case. It is a symbol of the downfall of a superstar's career but also of the historical event that brought light to the cruel and illegal business of dogfighting in America.

On his own blog, Humane Society CEO Wayne Pacelle explaining how HSUS came to possess the notes:

With dozens of reporters jammed into the press room at the Omni Hotel in Richmond, it was The HSUS's own Chad Sisneros, head of our Video Services section, who in looking to retrieve his microphone saw the abandoned scrap of paper and picked it up. 

He could hardly believe the irony, once he saw what it was. Nor could I.

Now we are in possession of this little piece of memorabilia in perhaps the nation's most notorious celebrity cruelty case. 

The paper had a series of bullet points, numbered, from #1 to #6. Apologize, Forgiveness, Full Responsibility, Mistakes, Young kids, judgment.

Pacelle goes on to note what that there was a 7th talking point scrawled at the end of the list, an apparent afterthought, that Vick did not mention: "Dogs have suffered."

As it was, a man who made a living by methodically marching down the field, one play at a time, didn't get far enough down the page to express contrition on the central question raised by his conduct. He quick kicked, and got out of that hotel room—revealing that he still may not get what was so wrong with his behavior. The biggest apology of all was left unspoken—to the dogs who suffered and who died so horribly at his hand.

As of today, bidding on the notes has reached $10,100. Proceeds will go to the Humane Society's Animal Cruelty Response and Reward Fund.  The auction ends September 14.

Your chance to help animals and own a sordid scrap of apology history.