A Happy Ending To A Sad Story

Well, my dad did a feel-good post on his blog, and I felt inspired to match him. So when I stumbled across a story about whatever happened to Michael Vick's fighting dogs, I knew I had the right thing to which I could point my Readers.

I would have thought that having been trained to fight, Vick's dogs would have been ruined and would have to be destroyed. But fortunately, there are dog rescue organizations out there that adopt even fighting dogs and one of them stepped in and began to rehabilitate the dogs. Sports Illustrated has some wonderful photographs of the dogs with their new, loving owners, and they cement in my mind that there are no bad dogs, only bad dog keepers. When put in a good home, and with the right training, even pit bulls trained to fight can becom good companions. Here they are, along with the wonderful people who have taken them in:

Teedles -- adopted by Cindy Houser
Sweet Jasmine -- adopted by Catalina Stirling
Grace -- with by Tim Racer and Donna Reynolds, two officers of BAD RAP, who are currently screening a family for Grace to live with permanently
Audie -- adopted by Linda Chwistek and Bill Cook
Sweet Pea -- adopted by Michael Wilson
Zippy -- adopted by the Hernandez family
Uba -- adopted by Letti De Little and William the cat
Frodo -- placed with Kim Ramirez
Ernie -- placed with Andy and Sasha Gibbs
Jonny Justice -- adopted by the Differding family

BAD RAP is a dog adoption organization that focuses on pit bulls and other dogs bred and trained to fight, and rehabs them so that they become suitable companion dogs for families. They took in Michael Vick's dogs and have adopted them out, and the dogs have begun a blog of their own so you can follow their stories.

It's great to see the animals healthy and happy again, and in good homes with people who obviously love them. There is no artifice in a dog -- a dog will return ten times the love it is shown and dogs are never happier than when they're with a family that loves them. If these dogs can be rehabilitated and put with families, some with small kids, then that's proof enough that there are no bad dogs. There may be bad owners, but a good owner with smart guidance can make it all better.

Please consider adopting a rescue pet. Obviously, adopting a pit bull, particularly one rescued from a fighting ring, is not for everyone -- but don't let the "pit bull" label slow you down; I've known lots of pit bulls who were sweet, gentle animals. It can be easier than you think to take in a rescued animal into your family. The Wife and I did, four times, and we love our critters to pieces.