Vick's pit bulls rehabilitated
Posted: Tuesday July 08, 2008 05:16AM ET
When former Falcons quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to run a dogfighting operation, he had kept about 50 pit bulls on his 15-acre property in rural Surry County, Va. Headlines described the dogs as "menacing." Some animal rights groups called for the "ticking time bombs" to be euthanized as soon as Vick's case was closed. Instead, the court gave Vick's dogs a second chance. U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson ordered each dog to be evaluated individually. And he ordered Vick to pony up close to $1 million to pay for the lifelong care of those that could be saved. Of the 49 pit bulls animal behavior experts evaluated, only one was deemed too vicious to warrant saving and was euthanized. Of the 47 surviving dogs, 25 were placed directly in foster homes, and a handful have been or are being adopted. Twenty-two were deemed potentially aggressive toward other dogs and were sent to an animal sanctuary in Utah. Some, after intensive retraining, are expected to move on to foster care and eventual adoption.






Comments (48)
will his rehab be the same? you know a QB school to help up that abysmal completion percentage and TD to Int ratio. that is the only rehab most are interested in. hope he is getting some film study in while stamping out license plates in the big house.
vaughn9 | 07/08/08, 05:26 AM
Report Offensive CommentI personally wouldn't want one in my house. But I'm glad they are still alive and doing well..
jj730 | 07/08/08, 05:41 AM
Report Offensive Commentfitting to have this Spam poop in this thread......xoboy probally of the male type considering his incarseration you tool!
vaughn9 | 07/08/08, 05:43 AM
Report Offensive CommentI'm not a fan of animals but this is a good thing
Hank Hill | 07/08/08, 05:45 AM
Report Offensive CommentI personally wouldn't want one in my house. But I'm glad they are still alive and doing well..
jj730 | 07/08/08, 05:41 AM
Exactly JJ, not in my house
Hank Hill | 07/08/08, 05:45 AM
Report Offensive CommentThey would probably eat my kids face off
Hank Hill | 07/08/08, 05:52 AM
Report Offensive CommentWell, some of the articles I've read about his dogs say they weren't the best. I think their record was 3-7 of the matches they have recorded. So maybe he didn't train them to be complete killing machines.
jj730 | 07/08/08, 06:08 AM
Report Offensive Comment3-7 sounds about right for dogs trained by an Atlanta Falcon.
Vikingfan | 07/08/08, 07:19 AM
Report Offensive CommentI know peeps who will defend him. He beat the PGH defense last time they played them. Oh, right this is about the dogs. BTW they should cover Vick's lovely family. The man needs therapy and some religion. And I ain't even religious.
Insane Hussein | 07/08/08, 07:41 AM
Report Offensive CommentI guess if their only talking about the dogs' rehabilitation, they're still working on Michael. Maybe the dogs are more trainable than he is because they're probably smarter. This story is stupid.
localboy54 | 07/08/08, 07:58 AM
Report Offensive Comment*they're
localboy54 | 07/08/08, 07:58 AM
Report Offensive CommentWHY , WHY, WHY ; THIS IS ALL BLOWN OUT OF CONTEXT. I MEAN THIS ENTIRE PROCESS IS CRAZY. I MEAN THE MAN FINANCED A DOG FIGHTING RING, OK IT WS ILLEGAL ; OK CONVICT HIM OF THAT, BUT THERE ARE BIGGER PROBLEMS IN THE WORLD THAN THIS. I MEAN THE WAR ON TERROR, RISING OIL PRICES, AND OTHER ISSUES OF GREATER MAGNITUDE. WHY ISNT HUNTING ILLEGAL? IM NO FAN OF #7 BUT I HAVE TO AGREE WITH YOU LOCAL BOY54 THIS ENTIRE STORY IS STUPID;
JWHY#97 | 07/08/08, 09:31 AM
Report Offensive CommentIt depends on the person JWHY#97. If your a PETA nut, this is the end of the world. I am a dog lover, and I wouldn't want to see dogs killed or trained to fight, but there are people doing worse things than this. The fact that our government gave billions of dollars to Iraq that they can't account for is more important to me.
hitman | 07/08/08, 09:39 AM
Report Offensive CommentAgreed Hitman......my work here is done, I think.
SoFlaBoy | 07/08/08, 09:45 AM
Report Offensive Commentsounds like a couple people are lost. This is a sports site that reports on sports, teams and athletes. If you are worried about the world and other bigger things may i suggest you post your comments on cnn.com?
DarrellGreen_28 | 07/08/08, 09:47 AM
Report Offensive CommentI am no PETA nut. But I financing a dogfighting ring is highly illegal.
So, if I follow the logic, because there are bigger problems in the world, we should ignore or not punish the smaller ones?!?!?
I simply do not understand this mentality.
Vick is dishonest and very, very stupid and he got caught.
He deserves his fate.
Hopefully those who lied and defrauded the American public about Iraq, oil prices, etc will also get theirs.
Bandit77 | 07/08/08, 10:06 AM
Report Offensive CommentJWY#97,
Please stop using ALL CAPS!!!!
Bandit77 | 07/08/08, 10:13 AM
Report Offensive Commentthat's wonderful they found homes and people that are willing to work with these dogs.
gameon | 07/08/08, 10:24 AM
Report Offensive Commentgameon ...Easy for you to say. Would your view change if your neighbor had one of those dogs and you had little kids?
Not me. Ask the Tiger expert. OH, thats right, he is dead...
I am not a fan of pit bulls to begin with, but if you have to have them, then you should have the training and certification to prove that you have a clue about how to keep one....Who are these people that would adopt these dogs?? Some will probably end up on Ebay to the highest bidder...
50yearfan | 07/08/08, 10:50 AM
Report Offensive CommentThat was kind of elementary bandit lol. However i love dogs too but this was overdone; I mean dog fighting is brutal dont get me wrong but, to this severity.
just not right man; HEY BILL BINK WE WILL GIVE VICJK A SECOND CHANCE IN DALLAS:
JWHY#97 | 07/08/08, 11:22 AM
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