The Lost Dogs

[DrDawkinstein]

Out today.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Dogs-Michael-Rescue-Redemption/dp/1592405509/ref=dp_return_2?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

 

 

An inspiring story of survival and our powerful bond with man's best friend, in the aftermath of the nation's most notorious case of animal cruelty.

 

Animal lovers and sports fans were shocked when the story broke about NFL player Michael Vick's brutal dog fighting operation. But what became of the dozens of dogs who survived? As acclaimed writer Jim Gorant discovered, their story is the truly newsworthy aspect of this case. Expanding on Gorant's Sports Illustrated cover story, The Lost Dogs traces the effort to bring Vick to justice and turns the spotlight on these infamous pit bulls, which were saved from euthanasia by an outpouring of public appeals coupled with a court order that Vick pay nearly a million dollars in "restitution" to the dogs.

 

As an ASPCA-led team evaluated each one, they found a few hardened fighters, but many more lovable, friendly creatures desperate for compassion. In The Lost Dogs, we meet these amazing animals, a number of which are now living in loving homes, while some even work in therapy programs: Johnny Justice participates in Paws for Tales, which lets kids get comfortable with reading aloud by reading to dogs; Leo spends three hours a week with cancer patients and troubled teens. At the heart of the stories are the rescue workers who transformed the pups from victims of animal cruelty into healing caregivers themselves, unleashing priceless hope.

[truth on hold]

Sounds like a good story, especially for an animal lover like me

[DrDawkinstein]

Sounds like a good story, especially for an animal lover like me

 

Indeed, I'm on my second pitbull rescue (here she is trying to pity her way onto the bed) so this is a must-have. But it's an interesting read for anyone as it talks about the business (Bad Newz Kennels) that Vick was running.

[Cugalabanza]

I might check that out. I watched a tv documentary (can't remember the name) that looked at the people who were helping to rehabilitate those poor dogs. Pretty powerful.

 

I can not even come close to understanding how someone could treat a dog the way those Bad Newz idiot scumholes did.

[DrDawkinstein]

I might check that out. I watched a tv documentary (can't remember the name) that looked at the people who were helping to rehabilitate those poor dogs. Pretty powerful.

 

I can not even come close to understanding how someone could treat a dog the way those Bad Newz idiot scumholes did.

 

me neither, which is why Vick's crimes will ALWAYS be looked at as worse than what most other NFL "bad guys" have pulled. Forget the Interstate Gambling Ring he was running, but the atrocities he committed towards these loving animals are just disgusting.

Edited September 17, 2010 by DrDankenstein

[NyQuil]

me neither, which is why Vick's crimes will ALWAYS be looked at as worse than what most other NFL "bad guys" have pulled. Forget the Interstate Gambling Ring he was running, but the atrocities he committed towards these loving animals are just disgusting.

 

Just wait, I'm sure someone will be here soon to talk about how its just an animal.

[truth on hold]

Indeed, I'm on my second pitbull rescue (here she is trying to pity her way onto the bed) so this is a must-have. But it's an interesting read for anyone as it talks about the business (Bad Newz Kennels) that Vick was running.

I played at a golf course where the superintendant had a rescued pit bull. Sweetest dog you'd ever seen. Unfortunately the inner lids of his eyes were permanently red and protruding from all the beatings the dog fighters had given him trying to get him to fight.

[DrDawkinstein]

I played at a golf course where the superintendant had a rescued pit bull. Sweetest dog you'd ever seen. Unfortunately the inner lids of his eyes were permanently red and protruding from all the beatings the dog fighters had given him trying to get him to fight.

 

It's a shame they get such a bad rap in the media because the name "pitbull" is a buzz word. My 2 pits have been the sweetest dogs Ive ever owned. Even over the family's Golden Retriever, our Austrian Pinscher mix, and our Pug.

 

There is no such thing as a bad pitbull, only bad owners. If they are raised properly and given the exercise they need, they are the best breed out there. Loyal, loving pleasers who are full of energy.

 

I'll always have a rescued Pit in my house for as long as I live.

[Cugalabanza]

A few years ago, a good friend of mine was walking his dog one morning before work and he came across an abandoned blue pitbull puppy. She was just about 4 months old. It was a freezing cold winter morning. She was cowering in a parking lot under a car. She could not walk--her front legs appeared to be horribly broken and there was duct tape on them. My friend is a dog lover (and a really good person), so he carried this freezing puppy back to his place.

 

It turned out that this dog had been confined in a box or cage that was way too small. As a result, her front legs became deformed from not being able to extend. She had to keep her legs folded under her body and the tendons shrank and she had bad muscle atrophe. Also, you could tell that her ears had been very recently cropped, sloppily. It looked like someone had just used some scissors to cut half her ears off within the last day or two. Apparently, someone was trying to groom her to be a fighter, but then decided to abandon her out in the cold instead, probably when they discovered that they had screwed up her legs through their own incompetence and neglect.

 

My friend kept the dog and with regular vet visits and lots of therapy on her legs, she became a healthy little dog within a couple months. She was one of the sweetest, most beautiful dogs I have ever known. I got to babysit her for a week once when my friend went out of town. Just a great dog. Blue pits are just gorgeous in my opinion. And even her ears healed up pretty well. She would have looked better with full floppy ears if you ask me, but still she was awesome.

 

 

I just don't get what is wrong with some people. A dog is one of the greatest things in this world.

 

And pitbulls absolutely get a bad rap. Too many thug a-holes ruin it for everybody else. They are excellent dogs if some dick does not go out of his way to try to turn them into monsters.

[DrDawkinstein]

A few years ago...but still she was awesome.

 

 

I just don't get what is wrong with some people. A dog is one of the greatest things in this world.

 

And pitbulls absolutely get a bad rap. Too many thug a-holes ruin it for everybody else. They are excellent dogs if some dick does not go out of his way to try to turn them into monsters.

 

Great story! Well, the rescue and rehab part. The Pit in the pic I linked above, we found her tied up outside in the snow back in February. She was about 10 weeks and freezing to death. She had no cover or anything, just tied to a post, sitting on freezing concrete. When I picked her up, she stayed in the sitting position, she was practically frozen solid. We found the owner, bitched him out for a bit until he said "well then you take her", and we did.

 

She's been the best addition to the family we could have ever asked for!!

 

With regards to the bold, unfortunately, with the Pitbulls build (years of humans breeding them into a weaponized species) and their energy level, it doesnt take someone training them to be dangerous. If they are simply neglected, like a lot of them are, they can be dangerous. Even though they dont mean to be, and they dont have a mean bone in their body, any dog left unattended, untrained, and unexercised can be dangerous. It just comes easy to Pits because of their body type.

 

So many people get Pitbulls as show-off status symbols, but leave them cooped up in a house all day and night. Then act surprised when the dog gets out and accidentally bites someone, after years of not being socialized, trained, or loved properly. That same thing could, would, and does happen with EVERY dog breed. We only hear about the Pitbull stories because the media eats it up. A family's Cocker Spaniel gets out and bites the kid next door, no big deal. But a family's Pitbull gets out and nips someone, that's it for the poor doggy.

 

It's ALL on the owner and the time and energy they give to their dog.

Edited September 17, 2010 by DrDankenstein

[ajzepp]

Awesome thread...and I agree, how anyone can want to inflict harm, neglect,and abuse on innocent, loving animals is beyond me.

 

Dogs rule!!

[DrDawkinstein]

Awesome thread...and I agree, how anyone can want to inflict harm, neglect,and abuse on innocent, loving animals is beyond me.

 

Dogs rule!!

 

I think the really disgusting part comes from the fact that dogs not only rely on humans, but flat out WORSHIP us. And people take advantage of that trust and loving, and prey on the dog's loyalty to not only turn them into monsters, but to torture them as well.

 

It takes a special kind of sick to run these dog fighting rings.

[Cugalabanza]

It's ALL on the owner and the time and energy they give to their dog.

I agree with everything you said. And congratulations on your rescue dog. She is friggin' adorable!

[ajzepp]

I think the really disgusting part comes from the fact that dogs not only rely on humans, but flat out WORSHIP us. And people take advantage of that trust and loving, and prey on the dog's loyalty to not only turn them into monsters, but to torture them as well.

 

It takes a special kind of sick to run these dog fighting rings.

 

That's a great point man, cause it's not like it's hard to objectively see how much love, enthusiasm, and loyalty dogs exhibit. It's not like they're some stoic animal where people can make the excuse that "they don't get it"....dogs are the most effusive, affectionate creatures on earth for gosh sakes! If someone can't see that, they are blind....and anyone who chooses to harm such a creature is a fuggin evil bastard.

[DrDawkinstein]

I agree with everything you said. And congratulations on your rescue dog. She is friggin' adorable!

 

Thanks!

 

I have to LAMP here for a sec because the way she gets along with our Pug (also female) is just too much.

 

People warned us about "Same Sex Aggression" in Pits when we brought her home because we have a female Pug...

 

Here they are doing what they do best, napping on the couch together (none of these are posed):

 

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs313.snc4/41012_1553521199544_1280607998_1522045_8199212_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs311.snc4/40867_1553521279546_1280607998_1522046_2505351_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs153.ash2/40987_1553516799434_1280607998_1522039_5890388_n.jpg

 

That's a great point man, cause it's not like it's hard to objectively see how much love, enthusiasm, and loyalty dogs exhibit. It's not like they're some stoic animal where people can make the excuse that "they don't get it"....dogs are the most effusive, affectionate creatures on earth for gosh sakes! If someone can't see that, they are blind....and anyone who chooses to harm such a creature is a fuggin evil bastard.

 

It honestly ranks up there with Child Abuse from a morality perspective. Not comparing the two, but it's the same theme: taking advantage of innocent creatures that trust you and who can't protect themselves.

[BB27]

A family's Cocker Spaniel gets out and bites the kid next door, no big deal. But a family's Pitbull gets out and nips someone, that's it for the poor doggy.

 

I am not defending Vick, or anyone who trains a dog to fight and abuses it, but I would argue that a pit bull bite does a lot more damage than that of a Cocker. Just my point of view though....

[DrDawkinstein]

I am not defending Vick, or anyone who trains a dog to fight and abuses it, but I would argue that a pit bull bite does a lot more damage than that of a Cocker. Just my point of view though....

 

I'll give you that a Pit CAN do a lot more damage. But there have been plenty of maulings by other dog breeds that, shown a picture of the victim, you would never guess the type of dog that did it. ANY dog is capable of inflicting serious damage. ANY. Even a chihuahua, given the right circumstance and especially if we are talking about a child.

 

For the sake of my example regarding which breed gets more media coverage, let's say neither bite is that serious... Which dog gets to go home, and which dog makes the news and gets put to sleep that night?

[BB27]

I'll give you that a Pit CAN do a lot more damage. But there have been plenty of maulings by other dog breeds that, shown a picture of the victim, you would never guess the type of dog that did it. ANY dog is capable of inflicting serious damage. ANY. Even a chihuahua, given the right circumstance and especially if we are talking about a child.

 

For the sake of my example regarding which breed gets more media coverage, let's say neither bite is that serious... Which dog gets to go home, and which dog makes the news and gets put to sleep that night?

You may be 100% correct, but I don't have access to the data that supports your opinion. I agree that a lot of dog bite stories get press and they involve pit bulls, but I don't know that a pit bull is put to sleep for biting someone and the Cocker isn't.

 

I just think the pit bull stories get press, also, that pit bulls are more ofter trained for fighting (cockers surely are not) and therefore we hear more about them. I've raided a lot of drug houses over the years, and inevitably the guys have a mean dog in the house, 9 times out of 10 it's a pit bull. The dogs don't want to be vicious, but it is all they know, and there isn't much you can do for them. I have never kicked down a door and found a cocker waiting in the kitchen guarding the drugs!

[DrDawkinstein]

You may be 100% correct, but I don't have access to the data that supports your opinion. I agree that a lot of dog bite stories get press and they involve pit bulls, but I don't know that a pit bull is put to sleep for biting someone and the Cocker isn't.

 

I just think the pit bull stories get press, also, that pit bulls are more ofter trained for fighting (cockers surely are not) and therefore we hear more about them. I've raided a lot of drug houses over the years, and inevitably the guys have a mean dog in the house, 9 times out of 10 it's a pit bull. The dogs don't want to be vicious, but it is all they know, and there isn't much you can do for them. I have never kicked down a door and found a cocker waiting in the kitchen guarding the drugs!

 

LOL at that image. No, of course not. Obviously Pits are put into newsworthy situations way more than any other breed.

 

Again, I was using an example of a family pet that got out and nipped a neighbor's kid. Most likely, if it was a cocker, the family will excuse it since it's "normally such a friendly dog". But if it was a friendly Pit that makes the same mistake, it's the end of the world because they've just been waiting for something to happen.

 

Point is, when all other things are equal besides the breed, the Pit gets harsher treatment due to the prejudices against the breed. When really there is nothing ingrained in the Pitbull DNA that makes it naturally any more aggressive than any other breed of dog.

 

There are aggressive Pits. There are aggressive Goldens. There are aggressive Hounds. There are aggressive Shih Tzus.

 

Pits are just in the spotlight because they happen to be the "best" at being aggressive if they are trained that way, due to their physical makeup.

Edited September 17, 2010 by DrDankenstein

[DrDawkinstein]

nice, short video about the dogs that were rescued from Vick's property and how they were evaluated to see if they could be re-homed...

 

http://www.badrap.org/rescue/vick/evaluations.html