Near the beginning of National Geographic Channel’s season opener of the “DogTown” series, several animal welfare experts suggest that the 22 pit-bull mixes rescued from Michael Vicks’ Bad Newz Kennels and now living at Best Friends are too dangerous and too far gone to be rehabilitated. The best-case scenario for them would be euthanasia.
After watching the episode, one wonders how many of those experts are eating their words.
The show spotlights four of the “Vicktory” dogs: Meryl, Georgia, Denzel and Cherry. The episode spans six months, chronicling the dogs’ evolution from existing in isolation, fear and anger to enjoying a life of learning, play and love. Sadly, a few of the dogs – including Meryl – will, for legal reasons, spend the rest of their lives at Best Friends. But after intensive training and lots of TLC from Best Friends staff, it won’t be long before most of the Vicktory dogs will be ready for adoption.
The bad news
About halfway through the show, a journalist visiting the Vicktory dogs experiences an “Aha!” moment when he claims, “They’re trained to be angry.” Best Friends dog trainer John Garcia replies, “The devil isn’t born in us.”
Hopefully, everyone who watched “DogTown” reached the same conclusion. But until the general public understands that these dogs aren’t born to fight (rather, they are taught to fight), there will always be a stigma attached to the breed, the kind of stigma that inspires citywide bully-breed bans. And more to the point, until people stop making money from dog fighting, there will always be a demand for the blood sport.
Because dog fighting is clandestine and illegal, no one knows exactly how much money is involved, but some estimate that dog fighting is a billion-dollar industry. The Humane Society of the United States says there are 40,000 “professional” dog fighters in the U.S., and as many as 100,000 “street” dog fighters. At top-level dog fights, the winner might go home with as much as $100,000.
The good news
Ironically, the general public has Michael Vick to thank for bringing this heinous activity to the front pages of our newspapers and top stories on the 6 o-clock news. As a result, we’re hearing more news about the arrests of dog fighters and the rescue of dogs in their possession.
We also have Michael Vick to thank for stiffer penalties doled out to dog fighters. This past July, Georgia officials raided a dog-fighting operation and charged the owner, Albert Glenn White, with 22 felony counts, one for each dog. Had he been caught in June, the charges would have been ranked as misdemeanors. On July 1, Georgia passed a law making it a felony to train, transport, sell or own a fighting dog. The first conviction comes with a sentence of one to five years in prison and/or a fine of $5,000. Richmond, Virginia, also passed a law on July 1, under the state’s RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act) laws, making dog fighting an organized criminal offense. Similar laws exist in Utah and Oregon.
In New Jersey, dog fighting rates as a third-degree felony, carrying a five-year prison sentence and $15,000 fine. This applies not only to those fighting the dogs, but also to spectators. Captain Steve Shatkin works for the New Jersey SPCA Humane Police, the state agency operating in areas with no local New Jersey SPCA chapters.
“These laws apply to everyone present because we know they’re all there on purpose, whether they’re actively fighting dogs or not,” explains Captain Shatkin. “So if you’re watching a fight go on, you’ll be facing the same jail time as the dog fighters.”
Shatkin notes that most of the fighting dogs are pit bulls. And even though he believes the aggression displayed during fighting isn’t “bred” into them, it’s hard to train it out of them.
“I’m not a behaviorist,” he admits. “I’m not going to make a blanket statement like ‘All pit bulls are bad.’ I’ve seen some very sweet pit bulls. How they behave depends upon their upbringing.”
Though aggression is a learned behavior, intelligence and loyalty seem to be general pit-bull traits. How else does one explain the turnaround for dogs like Cherry, Georgia, Denzel and Meryl?
“Oh, I know they can be rehabilitated,” says Shatkin. “The problem is time and money. It takes a lot of both to retrain fighting dogs. And more often than not, these dogs are euthanized because of lack of both.”
No argument there. Best Friends received around $400,000 to take in the Vick dogs, about half the funds needed for their lifetime care. Luckily, Best Friends, Bad Rap Pit Bull Rescue and other animal welfare groups were willing to take on the time-consuming and financially daunting responsibility of caring for the Vick dogs.
One dog at a time
If it’s difficult for an animal rescue group complete with medical and support staff to rehabilitate a fighting pit bull, imagine the dedication, patience and financial drain on an individual willing to take it on. Bridgid Nolan is the general manager of Unleashed, an animal day-care center in Chicago. She lives with Rusty, a pit bull who was rescued along with 37 other dogs from a dog-fighting ring in South Holland, Illinois. She took Rusty in as a foster in January, but soon fell in love and ended up adopting Rusty in June.
When he first entered her life, Rusty was badly undernourished and sick. But the worst of his afflictions, according to Bridgid, was how scared he was. “He was frightened of everything,” she recalls. “He was very, very cautious of everything.”
But after only a few days in her home, Rusty came out of his shell. He became Bridgid’s and her other dogs’ new best friend, mastered house-training in no time and increased his confidence daily by meeting new people and animals during walks.
One year after leaving the dog-fighting world, Rusty is a lover to everyone he meets. All he really needed, she says, was time, training and patience.
“I do think fighting dogs can be rehabbed with a good amount of time, dedication, vetting and training,” she says. “A lot depends on the person’s knowledge of pit bulls and dogs in general.”
And one year later, there are still dogs from that South Holland bust looking for forever homes. To find out more about adopting one of the South Holland rescues, contact Cause 4 Paws.
Written by Amy Abern
Photo by Bridgid Nolan (Rusty in foreground)
For more about the Vick dogs, check out the new DogTown web page.
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