Cape woman writes checks for tattered Michael Vick cards

Rochelle Steffen and Laura Norton-Dye met for the first time Thursday at the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri. The Cape Girardeau residents exchanged quick hugs, then chattered away about the spate of media calls each has received since Wednesday.

They've been bombarded since Norton-Dye's winning $7,400 bid on Steffen's eBay auction of 22 trading cards of NFL quarterback Michael Vick, each slightly chewed by two of Steffen's dogs, Monte and Roxie.

Vick pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges of being involved in an interstate dogfighting conspiracy. Indefinitely suspended from the NFL, he faces up to five years in prison.

Norton-Dye split the $7,400 between the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri and Safe Harbor, the Fruitland animal sanctuary. The women wanted a public payoff to diffuse criticism by some that the auction was a fraud. Steffen said about 25 percent of e-mails she's gotten accused her of keeping the money.

A few minutes after they met, Norton-Dye asked Steffen to see the cards. A sheepish grin spread across Steffen's face. She rolled her eyes, shook her head in disbelief and said, "Let me go back and get them."

Norton-Dye just laughed as Steffen headed to her car.

"I was afraid I was going to forget my checkbook," she said.

Diagnosed in 1993 with gastrointestinal carcinoid cancer, Norton-Dye, 40, left her Perryville Middle School teaching job two years ago. She started bidding on the cards with a limit, in her mind, of $10,000. She expected a celebrity to outbid her.

Norton-Dye, a former Humane Society volunteer, owns two dogs -- Sherlock, 11, and Watson, 6. She said she bid on the cards to raise awareness of animal shelter needs.

"I want to challenge Michael Vick to donate $1 million to the U.S. Humane Society," she said. "I'm a Christian and I believe in forgiveness, but we shouldn't forget.

"And, as a cancer patient and survivor, I know every day makes a different, and I wanted to make a difference today."

Humane Society administrator Cheryle Dillon said the $3,700 could be used to fund three months of electric bills or 7,300 pounds of dog food.

Norton-Dye surprised Dillon by handing over the trading cards before heading out to deliver Safe Harbor's $3,700 check.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127