The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick’s Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption

www.thelostdogsbook.com James Sullivan for the Boston Globe: The breed, of course, is the pit bull — the latest in a long line of dog breeds, from bloodhounds and German shepherds to Dobermans and Rottweilers, to endure periods of demonization. Gorant is the journalist who covered NFL star Michael Vick’s high-profile dogfighting case in a Sports Illustrated cover story. The fates of dozens of dogs rescued from Vick's underground operation may change the perception that pit bulls are nothing but "mindless attack machines,'' writes the author. "The Lost Dogs'' tracks the undercover agents, prosecutors, animal advocates, and foster families who together mounted a rehabilitation effort that has quietly changed some attitudes about so-called "vicious'' dogs. Vick's conviction, Gorant writes, marked "the first time that dogs in a fight bust were looked at not as weapons, as the equivalent of a gun in a shooting, but as victims.'' Rescued from the quarterback's rural Virginia compound (coincidentally, not far from the world headquarters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), some of the dogs were initially aggressive. Many others were scarred psychologically as well as physically, terrified of all sound and motion or resigned to a near-catatonic state. They'd been through hell. Dogs that would not fight (or proved to be inept in doing so) for Vick and his friends at Bad Newz Kennels were often put to death without mercy. The author reports one incident in which a dog ...

Channel: YouTube Video Length: 38s Date Found: Fri, Jan 14 2011 11:12 AM Category: Home Video Date Produced: Fri, Jan 14 2011 10:52 AM View Count: 0