On Wednesday, Sept. 16, some five million to seven million viewers of the popular “Dr. Phil” talk show will get a look at the Vicktory dogs at Best Friends Animal Society.
A segment of the show will be devoted to NFL quarterback Michael Vick, who recently suited up with the Philadelphia Eagles and returned to the football field after serving a 23-month sentence on a federal dogfighting conspiracy charge.
But more importantly, the segment will feature some of Vick’s victims — 22 of whom came to Best Friends in January 2008 to heal from the trauma they suffered at the hands of Vick and others in his dogfighting ring.
“What is important to us is that people consider the dogs,” says Ed Fritz, campaign specialist for ‘Pit Bulls: Saving America’s Dog,’ one of four Best Friends’ campaigns aimed at reaching the goal of No More Homeless Pets. “There’s a lot of talk about Michael Vick and if he deserves a second chance, but no one is talking about the dogs. Don’t these dogs deserve a second chance? As long as Vick is playing with the NFL, it’s up to us to support the victims of his cruelty. Michael Vick didn’t serve one day in prison for animal cruelty. He was punished for dogfighting conspiracy.”
Vick has apologized publicly, but many question his sincerity.
“To our knowledge, neither Vick, his handlers, nor the NFL has called to ask how the dogs are doing,” wrote Best Friends co-founder Francis Battista in a moving commentary in the Philadelphia Inquirer. “And these very real, living victims of the crime are nowhere to be found in the continuing debate about Vick’s rehabilitation.” Read the entire commentary here.
Keeping attention on the dogs
To keep attention on the dogs, Best Friends is teaming up with shelters and rescues across the country to hold Wagging Tailgate Parties in conjunction with the Eagles game schedule. The purpose of these community driven events is to get pit bulls into loving forever homes and to encourage people to donate food and other items on a shelter’s wish list.
“What we’re trying to do is take the conversation away from Vick and shine the light on the dogs,” Fritz says.
To read an update on the first Wagging Tailgate Party, click here. The Philadelphia Inquirer was also on hand to cover the event — click here for that story. Best Friends will be supplying an easy-to-follow guide on how to organize your own Wagging Tailgate Party at your local shelter. To get the Eagles game schedule, click here.
These Wagging Tailgate Parties are also increasing awareness about the challenges these dogs face and dispelling some of the fiction about these wonderful dogs. Thanks to widespread myths, unfair stereotyping and misinformed media hype, pit bulls, who years ago were America’s most beloved dogs, have become the outcasts of society. Indeed, many communities have enacted breed-discriminatory laws and ordinances that have banished them altogether.
The real truth
But the truth is that pit bulls can make the best family dogs. Ironically, it’s their loyal nature, their eagerness to please, that are the very qualities that make them easy prey for dogfighters.
Because of the myths that surround them, and because of the abuse they suffer at the hands of dogfighters and others who exploit them, many of these dogs end up in shelters where they’re often unfairly labeled unadoptable. In many shelters, pit bulls make up the majority of dogs being killed, not because of anything they’ve done, but simply because of what they look like.
Best Friends is working to help these dogs. Read more about what Best Friends is doing to help pit bulls, and about what you can do to help these wonderful dogs, here.
The “Dr. Phil” episode featuring the Vick dogs at Best Friends will be broadcast live from Philadelphia Wednesday, Sept. 16. Check your local listings for the time and channel in your area.
Written by Sandy Miller
Photos by Best Friends staff
As part of Best Friends’ 25th anniversary in 2009, our goal is to double our membership, so we can double our efforts to bring about a time when all companion animals have a forever home. What can you do to help? Give the Gift of a Best Friends membership to family and friends.
