Post by RealPitBull on Jan 31, 2008 8:37:01 GMT -5
Saved from hell
thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2008/1/31/lifefocus/20156364&sec=lifefocus
By CHERYL WITTENAUER
Pit bulls rescued from a dog-fighting racket are given a new lease on life as pets or working canines.
HIS back resting comfortably against her chest, Hector nestles his massive canine head into Leslie Nuccio’s shoulder, high-fiving pit bull paws against human hands.
The big dog, 24kg, is social, people-focused, happy now, it seems, wearing a rhinestone collar in his new home in
California.
Leslie Nuccio with Hector, a pit bull seized from Michael Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels.
But as Hector sits up, deep scars stand out on his chest, and his eyes are imploring.
“I wish he could let us know what happened to him,” says Nuccio, the big tan dog’s foster mother.
Hector ought to be dead, she knows – killed in one of his staged fights, or executed for not being “game” enough, not winning, or euthanised by those who see pit bulls seized in busts as “kennel trash” unsuited to any kind of normal life.
Instead, Hector is learning how to be a pet.
After the hell of a fighting ring, he has reached a heaven of sorts: saved by a series of unlikely breaks, transported thousands of kilometers, along with other dogs rescued with him, by devoted strangers, and now nurtured by Nuccio, her roommate Danielle White, and their three other dogs.
Hector has come such a long way since he was trapped in the horrors of Michael Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels.
With love and care, dogs saved from Bad News Kennels, such as Johnny (left), are learning how to be pets
Authorities descending last year on 1915 Moonlight Road in Surry County, Virginia, found where Vick and others staged pit bull fights in covered sheds, tested the animals’ fighting prowess and destroyed and disposed of dogs that weren’t good fighters.
Vick, the former US National Football League quarterback, is now serving a 23-month federal sentence after admitting that he bankrolled the dogfighting operation and helped kill six to eight dogs.
Officers who carried out the raid found dogs, some injured and scarred, chained to buried car axles. Forensic experts discovered remains of dogs that had been shot with a .22 calibre pistol, electrocuted, drowned, hanged or slammed to the ground for lacking a desire to fight.
A bewildered Hector and more than 50 other American Pit Bull Terriers or pit bull mixes were gathered up. So were “parting sticks” used to open fighting dogs’ mouths, treadmills to condition them, and a “rape stand” used to restrain female dogs that did not submit willingly to breeding.
The dogs, held as evidence in the criminal prosecutions, were taken to a half dozen city and county pounds and shelters in Virginia.
Life as pets
Ernie, another dog rescued from the Bad Newz Kennels, watching for instructions during a good citizen-dog training class in California.
How much to trust the capacity of fighting dogs to have a new life as pets or working dogs in law enforcement or therapy settings is an issue that has divided animal advocates.
Some believe most such animals should be put down as a precaution, while others say they must be evaluated individually. One dog seized at Bad Newz was euthanised as it was too aggressive, but the others, about 50 in all, have had different fates.
Nearly half have been sent to a Utah sanctuary, Best Friends Animal Society, where handlers will work with them. None showed humans aggression and many have potential for adoption someday. Others, evaluated as being immediate candidates for foster care and eventual adoption, went to several other groups.
Among the latter was Hector
Each dog was evaluated as an individual. Valparaiso University animal law expert Rebecca Huss recalled the good-natured but quiet Rose, whose overbreeding had led to mammary tumors. In the end, needing surgery but unable to tolerate anaesthesia, Rose was mercifully put down, just days after being transferred to a foster home.
Huss, who was appointed by the US Justice Department as guardian and special master to the seized dogs, received reports from an ASPCA-led evaluation team and from volunteers who observed and worked with the dogs where they were being held as evidence in shelters and pounds.
“Some dogs were ready to learn ‘sit’ and obedience. Some needed more time to accept touch and feel comfortable in their surrounding,” said Nicole Rattay, a volunteer with Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pit bulls, or BAD RAP.
She mentioned Handsome Dan, who bridled at touching at first but gradually grew more comfortable, though not enough for foster home placement, at least not yet. He ended up going to Best Friends.
“I hope that he can overcome what was done to him,” said Rattay.
Good citizen
Meanwhile, Hector’s settling into his new life, getting further and further from his past.
Weekly “canine good citizen” classes are correcting his social ineptitude. And he’s taking cues on good manners from patient Pandora, a female pit bull mix who’s queen of the household’s dogs. Once Hector graduates, he’ll take classes to become a certified therapy dog, helping at nursing homes and the like.
For now, he’s learning the simple pleasures of a blanket at bedtime, a peanut butter-filled chew toy, even classical music.
“I put on Yo-Yo Ma one day and he cocked his head, laid down and listened to the cello next to the speaker,” Nuccio said. “He’s turning out to be a dog of high class and culture.” –AP
thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2008/1/31/lifefocus/20156364&sec=lifefocus
By CHERYL WITTENAUER
Pit bulls rescued from a dog-fighting racket are given a new lease on life as pets or working canines.
HIS back resting comfortably against her chest, Hector nestles his massive canine head into Leslie Nuccio’s shoulder, high-fiving pit bull paws against human hands.
The big dog, 24kg, is social, people-focused, happy now, it seems, wearing a rhinestone collar in his new home in
California. Leslie Nuccio with Hector, a pit bull seized from Michael Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels.
But as Hector sits up, deep scars stand out on his chest, and his eyes are imploring.
“I wish he could let us know what happened to him,” says Nuccio, the big tan dog’s foster mother.
Hector ought to be dead, she knows – killed in one of his staged fights, or executed for not being “game” enough, not winning, or euthanised by those who see pit bulls seized in busts as “kennel trash” unsuited to any kind of normal life.
Instead, Hector is learning how to be a pet.
After the hell of a fighting ring, he has reached a heaven of sorts: saved by a series of unlikely breaks, transported thousands of kilometers, along with other dogs rescued with him, by devoted strangers, and now nurtured by Nuccio, her roommate Danielle White, and their three other dogs.
Hector has come such a long way since he was trapped in the horrors of Michael Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels.
With love and care, dogs saved from Bad News Kennels, such as Johnny (left), are learning how to be pets
Authorities descending last year on 1915 Moonlight Road in Surry County, Virginia, found where Vick and others staged pit bull fights in covered sheds, tested the animals’ fighting prowess and destroyed and disposed of dogs that weren’t good fighters.
Vick, the former US National Football League quarterback, is now serving a 23-month federal sentence after admitting that he bankrolled the dogfighting operation and helped kill six to eight dogs.
Officers who carried out the raid found dogs, some injured and scarred, chained to buried car axles. Forensic experts discovered remains of dogs that had been shot with a .22 calibre pistol, electrocuted, drowned, hanged or slammed to the ground for lacking a desire to fight.
A bewildered Hector and more than 50 other American Pit Bull Terriers or pit bull mixes were gathered up. So were “parting sticks” used to open fighting dogs’ mouths, treadmills to condition them, and a “rape stand” used to restrain female dogs that did not submit willingly to breeding.
The dogs, held as evidence in the criminal prosecutions, were taken to a half dozen city and county pounds and shelters in Virginia.
Life as pets
Ernie, another dog rescued from the Bad Newz Kennels, watching for instructions during a good citizen-dog training class in California.
How much to trust the capacity of fighting dogs to have a new life as pets or working dogs in law enforcement or therapy settings is an issue that has divided animal advocates.
Some believe most such animals should be put down as a precaution, while others say they must be evaluated individually. One dog seized at Bad Newz was euthanised as it was too aggressive, but the others, about 50 in all, have had different fates.
Nearly half have been sent to a Utah sanctuary, Best Friends Animal Society, where handlers will work with them. None showed humans aggression and many have potential for adoption someday. Others, evaluated as being immediate candidates for foster care and eventual adoption, went to several other groups.
Among the latter was Hector
Each dog was evaluated as an individual. Valparaiso University animal law expert Rebecca Huss recalled the good-natured but quiet Rose, whose overbreeding had led to mammary tumors. In the end, needing surgery but unable to tolerate anaesthesia, Rose was mercifully put down, just days after being transferred to a foster home.
Huss, who was appointed by the US Justice Department as guardian and special master to the seized dogs, received reports from an ASPCA-led evaluation team and from volunteers who observed and worked with the dogs where they were being held as evidence in shelters and pounds.
“Some dogs were ready to learn ‘sit’ and obedience. Some needed more time to accept touch and feel comfortable in their surrounding,” said Nicole Rattay, a volunteer with Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pit bulls, or BAD RAP.
She mentioned Handsome Dan, who bridled at touching at first but gradually grew more comfortable, though not enough for foster home placement, at least not yet. He ended up going to Best Friends.
“I hope that he can overcome what was done to him,” said Rattay.
Good citizen
Meanwhile, Hector’s settling into his new life, getting further and further from his past.
Weekly “canine good citizen” classes are correcting his social ineptitude. And he’s taking cues on good manners from patient Pandora, a female pit bull mix who’s queen of the household’s dogs. Once Hector graduates, he’ll take classes to become a certified therapy dog, helping at nursing homes and the like.
For now, he’s learning the simple pleasures of a blanket at bedtime, a peanut butter-filled chew toy, even classical music.
“I put on Yo-Yo Ma one day and he cocked his head, laid down and listened to the cello next to the speaker,” Nuccio said. “He’s turning out to be a dog of high class and culture.” –AP
I look forward to learning much here