Apparently, PETA isn’t too happy that Michael Vick is getting out of jail soon, and might be out there throwing a pigskin again in front of people eating hot dogs and wearing fur hats and wool sweaters. Sucks to be them.

So the animal rights group has withdrawn their offer to help the former Falcons QB rehab his image by letting him star in an anti-dogfighting PSA. And they want him to have a brain scan before he plays football again — just to make sure he’s not a psychopath.

But this part of the reporting from PETA’s hometown got my attention:

PETA had actually been working on a deal to use Vick in a public service campaign to fight animal cruelty. In exchange, Vick’s lawyers wanted some assurance that PETA would support Vick’s efforts to return to the NFL; PETA administrators refuse to play ball.

Daphna Nachminovitch, with PETA said, “We’re not interested in being part of a cynical ploy that’s nothing but public relations.”

Citing a recent government report that listed several instances where Vick was personally involved in the cruelty and killing of dogs, PETA wants Vick to undergo extensive psychological testing.

If PETA’s own head honchos would undergo the brain scan first, maybe we’d have something to talk about, right? Didn’t they kill about eleventy-billion more dogs than Michael Vick?

And excuse me? Cynical PR ploys make up pages 1 through infinity of PETA’s annual report.

None of which makes Michal Vick a swell guy, of course. But it’s kinda hard to pick a winner in this fight.