Meet Michael Vick's Pit Bulls

[cboy4]

Mike Vick's pit bulls up for adoption

Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, January 26, 2008


Five dogs that were rescued from the most notorious dog-fighting kennel in the country trotted out in Oakland on Friday to meet the public, wag their tails and try to dispel some long-standing human prejudices about canines.

They were, as always, man's best friend, even if man has not always held up his end of the relationship.

"This dog is somehow able to put its past aside and move forward," said dog lover Kim Ramirez, rubbing the ears of a 3-year-old pit bull named Teddles. "We humans can learn from that."

The dogs are pit bull terriers, among dozens rescued in a celebrated raid last year on the Virginia dog-fighting kennel owned by disgraced NFL quarterback Michael Vick. Ten of Vick's dogs were awarded to Bad Rap, a pit bull rescue group in Oakland that has spent months evaluating and socializing the dogs and placing them in foster homes.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/26/BA1CUM7M3.DTL

[Solly Mack]

1. Awwwww...

Beautiful doggies

[MadHound]

2. Aww, what sweeties

If I lived in the area, I'd take one in. Sadly I think that I'm too far away.

[cigsandcoffee]

3. I think they're playing a dangerous game adopting those dogs.

That's fine for the adults, but I hope they're not putting kids in the mix.

[MadHound]

4. Actually pits are very good with kids.

Up until the whole pit bull hysteria set in ten years or so ago, the AKC highly recommended pits as the top family dog, in part because of their gentle nature with kids. Kids can romp and wrestle with a pit, pull its tail and ears, etc. because pits are indeed durable dogs and don't get bent out of shape about such things.

My first pit that I had about twenty five years ago I would take over to various friends houses. They had young kids who just loved my pup, they would wrestle with him, snuggle and hug him, and the worse that they would get is a face full of doggy tongue, pits like to lick.

[cigsandcoffee]

5. I'm speaking of large dogs with a violent history, not pits in general. n/t

[MadHound]

6. Don't really know the history behind these dogs

Judging from how healthy they look, lack of scars, etc. these may very well have simply been breeder dogs for the operation. The black one and brown one certainly look more like females than males, perhaps the white one is also:shrug: As such, they would fall more into the neglected side of the equation than otherwise. My latest pit mix I rescued from a similar situation, and she gets along with kids just fine. I'm sure that these folks know what they're doing, since it is their reputation and the reputation of pits in general that they're working with in general.

The funny thing is, having done lots of pit rescue work, even the toughest, meanest fighting pit is generally pretty subdued around humans. Long ago, man's unnatural selection did away with many of the human aggressive pits. These dogs were meant to fight other animals, but humans had to handle them frequently and none to gently sometimes in the pit. Those handlers couldn't afford to have a human aggressive dog, and would kill any dog that showed the least sign of human aggression.

Hell, I'd sooner trust a pit not to bite my child than say a poodle, pomeranian, or cocker spaniel. Those dogs are truly vicious little things and it is only because of their size that they're not more dangerous. Those three breeds regularly trade around the top spot on the list of dogs who actually bite the most.

[pecwae]

7. Beautiful photos!

From Best Friends:

"When the Michael Vick dogs are introduced to the public at Best Friends on Monday (see sidebar story), it will signal the true new beginning for the 22 pit bulls who were in the group that survived the imprisoned football star’s aptly named Bad Newz Kennels.

They’ve been at our sanctuary in southern Utah for nearly three weeks, becoming acclimated to their accommodations and getting to know the Best Friends caregivers (as well as many other sympathetic staffers and visitors).

Under an agreement among federal officials, Best Friends, and rescue groups that accepted the other Bad Newz refugees, we’ve kept them pretty much under wraps until the final Vick-related case was closed January 25.

From now on, we no longer refer to them generically as the Vick fighting dogs, but as the Vicktory dogs, with their own names and unique personalities. Best Friends rehabilitators are working with them on socialization and other canine life skills, and our adoptions staff will set about the task of placing them in exactly the right homes."

More:

http://news.bestfriends.org/index.cfm?page=news&fps=1&mode=entry&entry=AD2802EC-19B9-B9D5-9D9C19F7DD13ACF1