A friend suggested I check out an article in this past weekend’s issue of Parade magazine.  So I rifled through my newspaper (I’m still old school on Sundays) and pulled out the insert.  Staring at me from the cover? An adorable dog.  A pit bull, to be exact.  After reading this article, I knew I had to share it with you.

The title of the article is “Can You Teach a Bad Dog New Tricks?”  The “bad dogs” in question are Michael Vick’s pit bulls.  (I think it goes without saying how very, very terrible he is… but we’re focusing on the dogs here, so I’ll save that angry rant for another time.)

We’ve all heard about what happened to Michael Vick after his dogfighting ways were discovered.  But what about the dogs?  Find out more after the jump…

As mentioned above, the dogs are pit bulls – a breed that is often discriminated against and that is sometimes the target of breed specific legislation (Denver being a notable example).  The Parade article, by Jim Gorant, introduces us to several of these dogs.  It’s an excellent article, and I encourage you to go read the whole thing.  Some highlights from the article:

• Fifty-one pit bulls were seized in the raid on Michael Vick’s dog-fighting ring in April 2007.
• Although it initially seemed that all of the dogs would be destroyed, they received a reprieve.  U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson issued an order setting aside $1 million to rescue and rehabilitate the dogs.
• Sadly, two of the dogs had to be put down.  The rest were either extremely scared of humans or completely unsocialized.
• The Best Friends Animal Society in Utah (the subject of the amazing Nat Geo series DogTown) took in 22 of the dogs, and many others were taken in by BAD RAP (Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pit Bulls) in San Francisco.  Other rescue groups from around the country pitched in as well.
• Several of the dogs have been adopted and have found their forever homes.  Finally, they’ve gotten a chance at a happy life.  (The article focuses on one dog in particular, named Jonny.  However, Parade also offers a slideshow where you can read the stories of 18 other dogs.)

The article includes a discussion of the types of issues one of the dogs was facing, and the methods used to socialize him.  It’s interesting stuff, and it’s nice to know that there have been positive outcomes for many of Vick’s canine victims.  I hope that the remainder are able to find happiness as well.

The author of the article, Jim Gorant, has a book coming out next month called The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick’s Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption.  I’ll definitely be reading it.  (The folks at BAD RAP have posted an advance review of the book – if you click to order from the BAD RAP site, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the organization.)

If you want to know more about these dogs, you can visit The Lost Dogs website.  I’ve rounded up a few other links as well, including a wealth of information on the BAD RAP website about the dogs’ journey and progress, a Washington Post slideshow, and a gallery of heartwarming photos of the dogs and their people from Sports Illustrated.

This story still breaks my heart (many tears were shed in the drafting of this post), but there is hope for these “bad dogs.”  Not all of the dogs are out of the woods, and some may spend the remainder of their lives in places like the Best Friends Sanctuary.  But now they are cared for and making progress towards leading happy lives.  And even though these dogs have been through hell, many of them were able to break out of that world and find loving homes.  It’s a poignant reminder that every dog is different and shouldn’t be stereotyped or dismissed on breed or history alone.

Unfortunately, Vick wasn’t the only horrible person out there engaging in dogfighting.  Please visit the Humane Society of the United States and the ASPCA to learn more about their respective campaigns dedicated to ending this cruelty.