I watched an episode of Dogtown, a show on the National Geographic channel, and they received 22 Pitbulls that were rescued from Michael Vick’s dog fighting ring. Dogtown is a rescue/sanctuary for dogs. They rehabilitate them to make the dogs adoptable or the dogs can live the rest of their life in comfort.
The things I learned about dog fighting and what Vick did to these Pitbulls made me sick. It brought me to tears. I just don’t understand how greed makes people harm animals. Vick had Georgia’s, a female Pitbull, teeth removed so he could breed her. And she was forced to breed many, many times.
Another dog, Denzel, had a contagious and uncurable parasite from the results of dog fighting. Dogtown staff were not sure if Denzel was going to live. He was severely under weight, pale and sick. But luckily, the vet found the right treatments and Denzel’s condition is in remission.
They showed pictures of Vick’s kennels. He had painted the buildings black and the windows were black so dog fighting could not be detected. The dogs lived in cages all their lives with no affection or care. Many of them looked starved. He made them exercise so they would be in top condition to fight. It is horrible what these heartless people do to the dogs.
The dogs are starved, treated badly, not cared for, and all the dogs want to do is please their owners. Cherry was one of the dogs that was scarred badly from the poor treatment and he was probably a bait dog, which are dogs used for practice fighting for champion dogs. These bait dogs have their mouths taped shut so they can’t defend themselves. Cherry was lucky to have survived his life at Vick’s dog fighting. And I was so happy to see Cherry come out of his scared, shy shell at Dogtown. He found a friend and that was what he really wanted. Cherry’s pal was another Vick Pitbull, Mel. They frolicked and played with each other. By the looks on their scarred mugs, smiles, tongues wagging and pure joy was seen on these Pitbulls’ faces. It filled my heart with happiness to see them rejoicing.
Cherry and Mel are proof that Pitbulls are just like any other dog, who wants to just be a dog and not fighting machines. Pitbulls are highly intelligent, loving and very eager to please. These characteristics and their tenacity is why they are chosen as fight dogs. But these qualities, also, make them good dogs to rehabilitate.
One of the Dogtown dogs, Meryl, was aggressive towards people. They worked with her and she made great improvement. Meryl, actually, went up to a stranger with her tail wagging, licked her face and wanted pets. This Pitbull was extremely aggressive, but with the right training and care has been changed into the dog she was when she was born. Dogs are made aggressive and made into fighting machines by humans, this is not something dogs are born with.
Millions of Pitbulls are euthanized every year due to this horrendous crime of dog fighting. I think the humans should be sentenced to harsher punishments. And should be made to work to pay for the dogs rehabilitation rather than the dogs being killed. Cesar Milan and Dogtown have rehabilitated fighting dogs. It can be done. There should be more rescues dedicated to rehabilitating dogs that have had to suffer from dog fighting rather than laws that ban certain breeds and these dogs being sentenced to automatic death.
Dog fighting and animal cruelty needs to stop. I look at my three dogs and all they want is love. And they give enormous amounts of love back. It makes me so angry that these criminals are only seeing dollar signs when they look at Pitbulls and not seeing how loving these dogs are. Dogs just want to be a human’s companion not a fighting machine.
