Good News for 48 of the 49 Vick Pit Bulls

This article is just in from DAVE FORSTER of The Virginian-Pilot (October 2, 2007 ). See also the ASPCA's web site posting (click here).

All but one of the 49 dogs still in custody after the prosecution of Michael Vick on a dogfighting charge have the potential for placement, the office of U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg announced Monday.



A team of certified animal behavior experts evaluated the dogs and deemed only one an immediate candidate for euthanasia, according to a document filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond . That dog has a history of biting people and showed intense aggression to humans to the point where the evaluation could not safely be completed, the document said.




At the prosecutors' request, District Judge Henry E. Hudson ordered that the aggressive dog be euthanized.



The 48 remaining dogs appear to have some potential for possible placement with specific conditions, according to Rosenberg's motion. The prosecutors plan to ask Hudson to appoint a guardian to oversee the disposition and placement of the rest of the dogs.


Some of the dogs might be used to fight crime one day. A future in law enforcement was among the four categories of placement considered for each dog, according to the motion, made by Rosenberg's office.


John Goodwin , deputy manager of animal fighting issues for the Humane Society of the United States, said he was surprised to learn that some of the dogs may eventually be considered for adoption. He had said early in the investigation that dogs in such situations are almost always euthanized .



Vick, an NFL quarterback whose last contract with the Atlanta Falcons was worth $130 million, could be held liable for any costs incurred by the federal government over the dogs. His plea agreement to a federal conspiracy charge requires him to reimburse the United States for expenses related to the dogs.



The team of evaluators, selected by The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, identified four categories into which the surviving dogs may be placed.



Dogs that showed no aggression to people or dogs could be placed in an experienced foster care home for observation and rehabilitation, possibly for six months to a year, according to the motion. Those animals might eventually be placed in appropriately screened homes, the document said.



The more energetic and motivated dogs could be trained for law enforcement duty, the document said. The other two options include sanctuaries, for dogs that show fear or high arousal toward people.


The document does not say how many of the dogs were placed in each category .



The animals were among those seized in April from Vick's property on Moonlight Road in Surry County . The dogs have been in local shelters since their removal. Two died in custody, and one was returned to an undisclosed owner, according to a memo filed in court .
Vick and three co-defendants pleaded guilty to conspiring to run an interstate dogfighting venture from 2001 to 2007 . Their sentencing dates are set for November and December.


Dave Forster, (757) 222-5563, dave.forster@pilotonline.com

Blogger's note: This does raise some very serious issues about the adequacy of testing and policies in our many well-intentioned Humane Societies across the country, many of which are simply carrying out the instructions of the jurisdiction for whom they work. In DC for instance, the policy is to adopt out all dogs tested successfully for adoptability. That's the policy they publish. But the unpublished policy is to not test any Pit Bulls, which means none get adopted out and all are euthanized within days of their arrival. This is outrageous. Of course, the policy is set by those who are concerned about public safety and not animal welfare, so it is not surprising. It just means that those of us who are concerned about animal welfare have a lot on our hands to change.

Thanks to NY'ers

Thanks to the NY'ers who posted these all over the city. Every little bit helped.

Some updates (updated 9/1/07)

Please visit the following sites for additional information about Vick's dog:

NY Times article of 9/13/07 concerning brief filed with Judge Hudson pleading him to sentence Vick to 57 months in prison.

See IDA's "Give Vick's Dogs a Fighting Chance" report of 9/05/07 for something you can do now to help the dogs live.

New York Times article from 8/31/07 "Menacing Dogs from Vick Case Await Their Fate"

New York Times article from 8/29/07 "Dogs From Vick’s Kennel Have to Pass a Behavior Test" reporting that ASPCA will test each dog but expects only 10-20 percent to pass.

Elizabeth Merrill's report for ESPN about efforts underway to spare the Vick's dogs lives

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah (which has volunteered to take some of the dogs). Apparently, the federal government has asked the ASPCA in NY to evaluate the dogs.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Santa Cruz Sentinel

See also PETA's blog for why they believe the animals taken from the Vick property must be euthanized.

PLEASE NOTE: This site was not set up to discuss the Michael Vick case or dogfighting in general. It was set up solely for the purposes of bringing awareness to the 53 individual dogs who were the victims who helped bring the Vick case to light. Please see other sites if you wish to weigh in on the Michale Vick case itself. For instance, please visit, among many others www.TitanicBugle.blogspot.com

Please circulate this blog to others. Time is running out for the Vick dogs.

In the plea agreement that Vick signed he agreed "to pay restitution for the costs of the long-term care and/or human euthanasia of some or all of the 53 pit bulls as may be directed by the court in this case." This means that there is a possibility that some or all of the animals will not be killed. It also means that Judge Henry E. Hudson will be the one to decide on Monday. Please call or fax Judge Hudson's office as soon as possible to plead with him to direct that serious consideration be given to providing long-term care for the animals. (See posting #2 below for Judge Hudson's phone and fax number.) Tell him that the reason Vick's dogs fought so hard was that they showed a desire to live.

Please Help Save Vick's Dogs

Everyone seems to think that it is inevitable that Vick's dogs must be put to death after they are no longer needed as evidence to convict Michael Vick. Why is it that Vick will get off with maybe 18 months in prison when he is far more dangerous than any of the dogs he brutalized, and they will all get death as their punishment, when they did nothing wrong.

Please do what you can do to stop the government from killing those poor pit bulls. Surely someone can come up with a solution. Here are several suggestions of things you can do NOW to save the dogs from being killed after Vick pleads guilty on Monday, August 27th (see following posts for details).



(1) Write to Last Chance for Animals and plead with them to help find a solution.



(2) Write to Judge Henry E. Hudson and plead with him not to authorize killing the dogs until after a sufficient time has passed for responsible parties to an alternative to killing them.



(3) Write to the other animal welfare/protection organizations and plead with them to stop saying that the dogs must be killed because they are too dangerous and to help find a solution.


(4) Write to the state prosecutor (who has yet to files charges against Vick and his companions) regarding Vick's dogs.


(5) Other suggestions. If anyone has any other suggestions, please post a comment here.


If anyone sees something in this Blog that is not correct, please let us know in a comment.

Thank you for your help and for recognizing that all life is valuable.

By the way, if anyone needs to be convinced that dogs deemed dangerous can go on to lead peaceful lives, please read Vicki Hearne's "Bandit: The Dossier of a Dangerous Dog."

(1) Send e-mail or fax to Last Chance for Animals

Chris DeRose at LCA (Last Chance for Animals) apparently was the sole advisor to the government on the dogs in the Vick case. His record at saving animals is unmatched. Write to him or his agent (Eileen Koch) to plead with them to lead an effort to spare the dogs. Those dogs do not deserve to die. Surely, there is a solution for this problem that would let them life a life better than what they ever had before.

Here is the contact information of LCA.
Chris De Rose
Last Chance For Animals
8033 Sunset Blvd. #835
Los Angeles, CA 90046
PH: 310-271-6096
FX: 310-271-1890
www.LCAnimal.org


Here is LCA's agent's press release on LCA's role in the Vick case and web site where you can leave a message.
Eileen Koch
Eileen Koch & Company
1830 Pelham Avenue, Ste 302
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone: 310-441-1000
Fax: 310-441-3030
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=762856



Here is a letter we just sent to both places.

Chris DeRose
Last Chance for Animals

I saw the press release for clarifying LCA's and Chris DeRose's role in the Vick case. Thank you for clarifying that as there was so much hype by other animal welfare/protection organizations, it was quite unclear who was doing what.

While I agree that it is important that we ask Judge Hudson to throw the book at Vick to send a clear message to others and to make sure he understands the gravity of what he did, I think all of the animal welfare organizations are missing the most important thing right now, which is to spare Vick's dogs. Everyone seems to feel that there is no alternative but to euthanize them when they are no longer need as evidence. To my way of thinking, that is so contrary to what the animal welfare/protection movement is all about. If someone cannot come up with a solution for keeping those dogs, we have all failed at what we are trying to accomplish. Think about what saving those dogs would do. Sure, they will not live the life of a free dog, but they will live. Please do what you can do to give these dogs one last chance at life. If LCA leads an effort to spare those dogs and succeeds, I will divert a major portion of my annual contributions for the next five years from my usual list to animal welfare organizations to LCA. Surely, you can find 250 or 500 others who would be willing to do the same.

I can think hundreds of tougher challenges in the animal welfare business today other than saving Vick's dogs. If someone cannot save them, why are we striving to do so much more. Think about the good this would do for all the other pit bulls send to their death each day because of their reputation. I would not be sending this message if I did not thinlk LCA could succeed at this. The truth is that I would have been more impressed if the press release addressed this challenge and not the one of advisor to the government during the investigation.

Please do not abandon Vick's dogs. They want to live. Please see what you can do to give them a chance to live for the first time.

(2) Send a Letter to Judge Henry E. Hudson

The Federal judge in the Vick case, Henry E. Hudson, will decide when the dogs are no longer needed as evidence and he will then give permission to the government to destroy the evidence. Plead with the judge to spare the dogs. Tell him they are not evidence, they are LIFE. Plead with him to order the government to keep the dogs for as long as it takes for an effort to spare the dogs and give them a life that was better than what they had before. Tell him the dogs want to live, which is why they fought so hard for Vick in the first place.

Judge Hudson's contact information is:

Honorable Henry E. Hudson
United States District Court
1000 E Main St
Suite 305
Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: (804) 916-2290
FAX: (804) 501-5505


Here is a letter that was sent to the Judge:

Honorable Henry E. Hudson

Judge, United States District Court

Easter Virginia (4th) District

1000 E Main St

Suite 305

Richmond, VA 23219

RE: Michael Vick's Dogs

Dear Judge Hudson:

My purpose in writing is not to plead with you to give Michael Vick his due once he pleads guilty, as I am sure many others have done. From all I have read about you, I am quite confident that whatever decision you make will be an appropriate one, given the facts as they have been reported in this horrific case. What I am writing about is something I do not even know is within your authority to do anything about, and that concerns the fate of Michael Vick's dogs, the victims of his alleged crimes.

As I understand it, once there is no longer a need to keep Vick's dogs as evidence, they will be destroyed because they are too dangerous to be kept around. What shocks me more than Vick's and his accomplices' alleged crimes is thet attitude that so many people (including the humane organizations I support) have that these poor dogs cannot be rehabilitated or, barring that, cannot live peaceful lives somewhere. The reason we have the laws on the books making cruelty to animals illegal is because we believe that their lives can be as meaningful to them as our lives are to us. If that is the case, why, then, will Vick get 18 months or so for brutally harming and killing 60 dogs or more, but these poor dogs get death for being his unwilling vicitms? That is at least unfair, if not plainly inconsistent ethically.

My purpose in writing is to do nothing more than ask you to not permit the destruction of Vick's dogs until every avenue has been explored to either rehabilitate these dogs or give them peaceful lives in their few remaining years. (I am sure Chris DeRose from Last Chance for Animals, who helped out during the investigation, can find a soltuion. I have already pledged my support to him if he does so.) Any life they will be able to have will be infinitely better than the lives they have had so far. They --- and not Vick and his accomplices --- should be the reminders of not only the animal cruelty that goes on in our country, but the fact that we can bring victims back from their hellish lives to the lives they deserve. So please, sir, show not only justice to Vick, but, more importantly, compassion to his victims. If it is within your authority to do so, please instruct the government to find a non-fatal solution for the dogs. Any justice to Vick will be empty and meaningless unless something is done for the victims while there is still time.

Thank you for reading this letter.

Sincerely,