KC DOG BLOG

NFL Season Starts Tonight

The NFL season begins tonight.  So much of the NFL off-season has been centered around the league's reinstatement of its now-most-infamous player, Mike Vick -- who will now be suspended for only 2 games and will be allowed to make his league debut in week 3 vs the Kansas  City Chiefs.

A couple of weeks ago Vick and his new spokesperson Wayne Pacelle did a few interviews to "celebrate" Vick's reinstatement back into the league and his supposed involvement with HSUS's inner city programs to try to stop dog fighting in the inner city. 

LA Animal Watch had a couple of great videos at the time -- one on Pacelle talking about Mike Vick, and the other on Vick talking about himself.

Here are the two videos:

Meanwhile, Vick also did an exclusive interview with 60 Minutes -- which is worth watching. While his interview seemed very scripted and not sincere, I will note that one thing did give me some reason for hope in this is that when he stood up to speak, Tio Hardiman, who is someone I do admire for doing great work in the inner city of Chicago, was in the background. I do believe if it is possible for a man like Vick to be himself, rehabilitated, then Tio is the kind of man who can do it. 

Here's part 1 of that interview:

And Part 2:

All of the hubbub is enough to drive me to watching solely the college game of football this year. For the life of me, I have no idea why the most successful sports league in the world wants or needs Mike Vick And I have no idea why the the world's wealthiest animal welfare organization (HSUS) would be so quick to push authorities to have all of Vick's dogs killed after they were rescued, but then also so quick to grant the man responsible for terrorrizing and abusing these dogs a second chance.

  But there is some good news in the story. Many of the rehabilitated Vick dogs got second chances for exposure. Inside Edition ran a story on some of the successfully rehabbed dogs that are living at Dogtown.  KQDS TV in Duluth, MN ran an article on Hector - former Vick dog -  now serving as a Therapy dog in the hospitals in Rochester, MN.

There were other stories. But in all, the dogs showed themselves to be the great loving pets they had become....not the monsters often portrayed in the news media.  Dogs that even though they really were "bred and trained to fight", have learned to love from their new homes. It certainly makes a very strong case of nurture over nature in aggression -- and providing a trail for other dogs who are rescued from similar circumstances to follow -- and not be doomed to death by the likes of HSUS...who is so quick to offer second chances to dog fighters, but not to the victims themselves.

At least there is a happy ending....or happy new beginning....for the victims of Bad Newz kennels. 

Georgia and John Garcia on Larry King tonight

 John Garcia and Georgia will be on Larry King Live tonight at 9 pm EST (7 pm MST) on CNN.

Hat tip to Best Friends.

Last night, Mike Vick got to be in the limelight on 60 Minutes (I haven't gotten a chance to watch yet, an update will be forthcoming), but this will be a nice yang to last night's program. Garcia has been great in previous interviews he's done with Georgia.

In spite of what many want to say about Mike Vick, his most lasting legacy may end up being his dogs.  Dogs like Georgia, that show that in spite of breeding and in spite of training, dogs, regardless of breed, respond positively to loving and caring homes. 

And yes, I do think that it's possible for 47 dogs to completely change the way we view an entire breed of dogs -- proving with individual stories what science has told us all along.

Giving them a chance

After my post this morning about the 400+ dogs that were rescued about from various fight busts from around the country, I thought it was highly topical to relay a couple more success stories that were in the news this week.  Success stories about dogs, like the ones rescued this week, that were from Mike Vick's dog fighting business -- that were rescued, rehabilitated, and are having great lives.  And some are even giving back to their community.

Here's a great storie about Gracie -- a dog rescued from Bad Newz Kennels that is making a new life for herself in Richmond. (via Bad Rap.)

Here's a story about Halle, another one of Vick's dogs who is scheduled to help Salt Lake County Animal Services launch it's "Bully Breed" program that will help educate owners about pit bulls.

Our Pack has a great follow up story from a Cancer Survivor that found great joy from Leo (a former Mike Vick dog, turned therapy dog) when he visited her at the hospital as she was going through treatment. Here's a short clip:

As a former patient at the cancer treatment facility I can say that Leo brings so much joy during treatment. You're going through the treatments in order to survive and your just joyful and uplifted to have him visit you. He's so gentle and sweet. Just petting him takes you out of where you are. He makes me feel so good. He makes people smile and it's just a great feeling.

Read the rest here.

Not to mention the work of Hector -- who has also recently began therapy work.

This is just a small sampling of what can be accomplished with dogs that are rescued from dog fighting operations. Not only does it prove that the dogs deserve a chance -- it also shows that society, as a whole, may be much worse off if they don't.

Good Media Coverage following Vick's prison release

I posted a little about Vick & HSUS this morning, but one other great thing to come out of Mike Vick leaving jail has been the amount of positive news coverage that has come for the now-recovering victims.

Donna, over at BAD RAP, has a video of Jhumpa that ran earlier this week on Anderson Cooper 360.  Anderson Cooper ran a nice piece on some of the Vick dogs back in December also, so it was great to have another follow up.

Meanwhile,  the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams also ran a story about several of the dog that are rehabilitating out at Best Friends' sactuary out in Utah.  Our Pack has the video link.

Meanwhile, the Daily Oklahoman had a follow-up story on Alf --another dog rescued from Bad Newz Kennels.

The stories and the videos do an amazing job of showing that these dogs are not some genetic freaks of nature. They are merely dogs.  Shaped by their environment, and by the way their owners or handlers treat them. And they have the ability to change dramatically and adapt to a new lifestyle. 

Enjoy.

Mike Vick/HSUS Partnership may be what both parties need

Yesterday, Michael Vick left the prison in Leavenworth, KS, and headed home.

On the same day, Wayne Pacelle from the Humane Society of the United States, announced that Vick will be coming on board to help HSUS in their quest to end the heinous act of dog fighting.

While many have criticized HSUS for this decision, it may, in fact, be what both parties desparately need. Or, it could be a disaster.

In so many ways, the past two years for Mike Vick and for HSUS have been running on parallel paths. Mike Vick was a very good NFL football player. He was revered.  He was wealthy beyond most people's comprehension. And in the act of brutally killing a bunch of dogs, he threw all of it away. He lost his job, was thrown in jail, and his image was badly tarnished.

HSUS is not that far behind.  HSUS is the world's wealthiest "humane" organization.  They had a great image (at least among many). And yet, their reputation has begun to crumble -- in large part, because of them killing a bunch of dogs.  

Two years ago, the dogs from Mike Vick's Kennels were rescued -- even in spite of insistence from HSUS that the dogs be killed. Most have now moved on to great lives in homes (I will post more on this later today). In spite of the successful rehabilitation of these dogs, the next  time a group of dogs from a dog fighting ring were confiscated, HSUS once again insisted that all of the dogs be killed. The public outcry of HSUS's siding with killing -- in spite of the recent evidence that dogs from these situations could be rehabilitated, put HSUS on the defensive -- to the point where they've even said (at least kind of), that all dogs that were rescued from dog fighting rings would be given a chance to be evaluated and possibly rehabilitated.

And now, an organization that is trying to rebuild its reputation is joining forces with a man, who is trying to do the same. In some ways this appears desperate. In other ways, it makes so much sense.

Vick's future appears very up in the air. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has not said whether he plans to allow Vick to come back to the league once he serves his prison term. But the NFL doesn't need Mike Vick. The NFL is the single most successful professional sports league in the world. They're wealthy. They have tons of fans. Most stadiums are sold out on every Sunday. TV ratings are high. The league is rolling....and continues to do so without Mike Vick. If allowed to come back, Vick would be a distraction.  Teams would have to endure picketing outside of games. Opposing crowds will boo him unmercifully. The fact that 13,000 people on facebook (and growing) have already joined a group to "keep Vick out of the NFL" means there will be backlash.  The league doesn't need it. It is most likely time for them to part ways.

HSUS though, potentially has a spot for Vick -- that could be a perfect match.

A few years ago, HSUS partnered with Tio Hardiman.  Hardiman has been working the streets of inner-city Chicago trying to stamp out dog fighting among urban youth. His program is not designed around punishing youth for fighting dogs (something they have learned to accept from those around them, and have likely never even questioned the ethics of it, it literally, is all they know). Hardiman works with these  youth to change their hearts -- and to give the youth compassion for their four-legged partners. With the help of HSUS, they have added a training component to the program, where the youth learn to train their dogs -- so they can take pride in how well trained their dog is, not how well it fights.   The videos of his program are amazing to watch.

Vick could be a perfect fit for a program like this. If Vick is truly a changed man (I'm not yet convinced, but I would have no real reason to not believe it to be true either), I think his celebrity could allow him to easily connect with urban youth.  He could tell his story. He could (potentially) teach them compassion.  He could use his story to change their hearts.

Now it could not happen that way. HSUS could use him as little more than a propped up scarecrow in a few videos that they used for little more than to raise yet more money to "stamp out dogfighting."  We've seen their fundraising efforts before -- calling for money to help them care for and save the Vick dogs, but then calling for them all to be killed.  And this may well be HSUS's intent.

If Vick ends up being used merely as a prop for a fundraising campaign,  HSUS will continue to be seen by many as merely a fundraising machine that has little interest in actually saving the lives of animals. And Vick will look like the guy who took the money from an animal rights group and ran...without having shown true remorse for his past actions.

And that would be too bad. Because this union could be a good match for both parties -- and chance to rebuild tarnished reputations and truly benefiting the dogs that both are responsible for killing.  It would be a second chance for both -- which is what we've all claimed the dogs from fighting operations deserve. The dogs from Bad Newz Kennels have used their second chance to thrive in their new environments. It is a new environment for both Vick and HSUS.  Hopefully they will be at least half as successful as the dogs in adapting to it, and making the most of the opportunity. 

ESPN 2 -- E:60 Vick's Dogs Find New Homes

At 7:00 EST, 6:00 locally here in KC -- TONIGHT, 4/21, ESPN's program E:60 will feature interviews with the many people and groups that are now caring for dogs formerly owned by Mike Vick. There have been a lot of shows about these rescued dogs, and while many of them have featured a lot more of the negative about the dogs -- the tone of the trailer for this is certainly a lot more upbeat and soft.

Check out the four minute preview -- the link is here. 

Donna, who was interviewed for the show, has a bit of a preview too -- and Tim will be online tomorrow to answer questions from the general public about the dogs.

UPDATE: I got a chance to catch the show tonight. They of course showed the HSUS dog fighting footage -- and had an interview with someone from PeTA (who is an irrelevant party when it comes to animal welfare issues) without a mention that they insisted all of the dogs be killed. In spite of those obvious flaws, the program was good for the dogs. People saw them in their rehabilitated loving ways -- forgiving and forgetful of their former lives. The folks interevied did great. The dogs were awesome. Overall, a segment of the sports-loving population got to see the dogs: playing, licking, loving and in training. In short, they saw these dogs -- called by the likes of HSUS and PeTA as the most vicious dogs ever -- being dogs. Well-behaved. Fun-loving dogs. Bravo.

Vick vs PETA

Earlier this week, Mike Vick was released from a Federal prison and returned to Virginia. The topic of course has been discussed on sports blogs around the US.  The New York Times Sports blog is not different.  However, the New York Times blog had an interesting hypothetical yesterday.  Here's the scenerio:

"You have to give up your beloved family pet, a pit bull terrier, and you have the choice of entrusting it to Ingrid Newkirk, president and founder of PETA, or Michael Vick, trusting that whoever you pick will find a good home.  Who do  you choose?"

The answer sounds easy -- unless you're familiar with the folks at PETA.

However, also yesterday, the Center for Consumer Freedom released numbers from PETA in 2008 -- another year in which PeTA killed 95% of the animals that were entrusted into their care -- killing 2,124 pets last year and placing only 7* in adoptive homes.  That number brings the total number dogs and cats killed by PETA to 21,339 since 1998 (hat tip: The Pet Connection). 

* I want to put the "7" in perspective here. On a $32 million budget, PeTA was able to find homes for only 7 animals. Last year, I think my wife and I found homes for 7 animals -- and we work on a significantly lower budget figure than $32 million. That's absurdity.

That's a lot of dead animals.  PETA isn't an organization that saves animals (which is what they try to lead people to believe).  They are actually one of the largest killers of animals in the united states.

So now, knowing that, given the hypothetical, what would you do. The writer finishes:

"If I delivered my pit bull to Newkirk, I would at least know his fate -- hed' be headed out the back door in a plastic bag by the time I drove back home. I couldn't be completely sure about Vick, but I think I'd have to take my chances with him."

You can read his entire rundown at the NY Times here.

Folks, this isn't animal welfare people talking. It's sports people. Is the general public finally seeing the light on PeTA?

More on PeTA's killing spree over at Terrierman.

The Irony of Timing

Yesterday was a crazy day.  In Wilksboro, NC, a judge ruled in favor of killing 127 pit bulls seized froma dog fighting operation in the area -- in spite of contacts from respected national and organizations that called for an opportunity to temperament test the dogs and see if any could be saved. In spite of that, all 127 dogs were killed, including about 40 or so puppies, many less than 2 months old.

Meanwhile, the world's wealthiest "humane" organization, applauded the decision.  I posted about that yesterday -- and have added several new blog links if you missed them.

Meanwhile,Yes Biscuit has posted the comments from HSUS's John Goodwin about the recommendation to kill the dogs:

"Those particular fighting dogs in Wilkes County, NC were very, very different than the Vick dogs. Whereas Michael Vick was a pro football player that fought dogs as a hobby, the breeder of these dogs was a globally recognized professional dogfighter. Vick was not a good breeder, and he lost most of his fights. His dogs were a poor representation of true fighting dogs."

The irony here, of course, is that this would be a somewhat believable claim if HSUS hadn't first raised money to care for the Vick Dogs -- and THEN, recommended they all be euthanized without an evaluation.  No, HSUS loses any credibility when they say "these dogs were different than the Vick dogs" -- when they recommended the exact same result for both groups of dogs. HSUS's policy continues to be, kill first, ask questions later.

As Winograd points out in his post over at the No Kill Nation:

"Every time HSUS defends killing, their antiquated, regressive viewpoints are not only harmful to animals, they make HSUS more and more irrelevant to animal sheltering and more and more despised by those who truly love animals. And they become more out of touch with public sentiment. "

Meanwhile on the same day that HSUS was ordering the killing of 127 'pit bulls' without evaluation, Roo Yori announced that former Vick dog Hector officially passed his test to become a Therapy Dog.  Apparently at least some dogs "bred to fight" can be trained for public benefit...in just a little over a year. And Hector isn't the first dog from Bad Newz Kennels to become a therapy dog.

But HSUS ignored the success of the rehabbing of the Vick dogs and decided somehow these dogs were "different" than the other dogs they recommended killing.

Meanwhile, just last week, Best Friends announced that the first of their dogs that was actually rescued from Bad Newz Kennels went to his forever home.

So at a time when many in the true animal welfare community is celebrating the successes of the rehabilitation of the dogs from Bad Newz Kennels, HSUS is still calling for the death of all dogs coming from these situations -- without evaluation. You'd have thought they'd notice.

Let's repeat after me:

In most cases, these dogs can be rehabilitated.

They are worth it.

Killing should be the last response, not the first.

HSUS has lost their grip on the animal welfare movement. It's time to move on without them...although I'd be happy if they'd get on board on their own.  But I'm not going to sit around waiting for them.

A little good news for a Friday afternoon

The AP picked up a story today about the Mike Vick dogs -- and tying into the Westminster Dog show that begins next week in Madison Square Garden in New York.

It's a good article -- although if you've been following any of the news about the dogs there is nothing really new here.  The dogs had a tough life -- but are all doing really well now -- and most will eventually head to homes (if they haven't already).

Some good quotes by folks though, which is always nice.

There are no bad dogs, only bad owners.  Often the media makes mistakes in determining the breed.  They're dogs. And how it's really difficult to even determine what a "pit bull" is. Some cities would have outlawed Rufus, the Westminster Dog Show winner from a few years ago because he is a Bull Terrier.

It's worth the read --go check it out. This story has already been picked up by a couple of hundred newspapers around the globe.  The good press is nice. People reading about how great these dogs really are when owned by responsible people is great too.  Which all the reasonwhy saving these dogs was worth it.

Why saving the Vick Dogs was worth it

 This has been bugging me - so in spite of already covering the Sports Illustrated article, I feel like I need to address it again.

Late in the Sports Illustrated article, the question got asked, "was it worth it?" Was it worth it to invest the time and resources to save these 47 dogs when millions of animals languished in shelters?

At least one commenter here expressed the same sentiment, and I've seen in mentioned elsewhere.

At first glance, it would appear that the time and money put into rehabilitating the dogs probably wasn't the best use of resources -- if your focus is only on the 47 dogs.  But this is about way more than 47 dogs.

There tends to be a lot of publicity about these major abuse cases -  and the horrors that come from these major hoarding and fighting situations. 

187 dogs in a fighting ring in Houston.  

Over 100 dogs in Newkirk, OK.

And of course, Bad Newz Kennels.

But the reality is, in spite of all of these horrible situations, it pales in comparison to the thousands of pit bulls that are killed in city shelters quietly every year. Sometimes they are killed because they are not able to find homes for the dogs because of the stereotypes that surround the dogs.

Often times, even the shelters, like in Ripon, CA, that are supposed to be protecting the dogs have policies in place that don't allow pit bulls to be adopted out.  Just the mere entrance into the shelter is a death sentence because they're "too much work", "could fall into the wrong hands" or whatever. Many shelters don't think the 'pit bulls' can, or should, be rehabilitated or are worth the adoption space. In North Carolina, dogs pulled from fighting rings are mandated by law to be euthanized.

And then, there are the thousands of dogs that are killed in cities each year that are killed just for being 'pit bulls' because that city outlaws their very existence.

No. Saving the 47 Vick dogs was not just about the 47 dogs.  It was a statement that these dogs matter. 

It was a case study in the adaptability of dogs -- that these 47 dogs, who were in some of the worst of situations - are adaptable enough overcome horrific situations, to become normal household pets.  Dogs are a product of their enviornment -- and when you remove the awful environment and replace it with a good enviornment, they can, and do, thrive. It is  a statement that the dogs can be rehabilitated and are worth saving.  If the shelter community, HSUS, PETA, etc all think that the dogs should be killed (which has been their stance for decades), then why would a dog fighting thug think that the dog's life matters either.

It does. They all do.

Nope -- this was about sending a message.  These dogs matter too. If we are going to become no-kill communities, where no healthy dogs or cats are killed in our nation's shelters, we cannot continue thinking these dog's lives don't matter. We can't continue with shelter policies that mandate that all pit bulls get put to death. Or continue with city laws that make adoption impossible;  or laws that take good dogs out of good homes and condemn them to death.

All of the lives matter.

Already, the success of the Vick dogs is paying dividends. A couple of weeks ago, over 100 pit bulls were founding in a hoarding case in Oklahoma. The original thought was that all of these dogs would need to be euthanized. However, because of the success of the Vick Dogs, the Oklahoma Alliance for Animals, and the Kay County Sheriff's department, listened to rescue groups in their pleas that all of the dogs may not have to be killed. Because of this, 30 or so dogs are now alive that would otherwise have been killed. And when these dogs become success stories, more will follow.

The Vick dogs sent the message - -these dogs' lives matter. It is through this message that shelters, cities, rescues -- and yes, even inner city youth kids -- will see that the lives of these dogs matter.

If we don't care, why should they?

If that message gets heard loud and clear across the entire country - -and changes minds - -then it was worth every penny, every hour and every tear.