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Beaten-down dog from Vick case has his day
fishermanben
Member Posts: 15,370
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25214356/from/ET/
Beaten-down dog from Vick case has his day
Pit bull rescued from famous dogfighting ring now helps cancer patients
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - It's a dog's life. And for Leo it couldn't be better.
Leo - rescued from heavy chains that confined him as one of the pit bulls in former NFL quarterback Michael Vick's dogfighting ring - is a lover, not a fighter. He now happily frolics in a clown collar as he makes the rounds at the Camino Infusion Center, where he brings comfort to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Despite his training as a killer, Leo is a sweetheart as he visits his friends on the ward.
"He is wonderful, and all the patients love Leo," said Paula Reed, the facility's oncology director. "They really love his eyes and gentleness."
Six months ago, Leo should have been dead.
When officers raided Vick's Bad Newz Kennels in Smithfield, Va., last year, they found dogs, some injured and scarred, chained to buried car axles. Forensic experts discovered remains of dogs that had been shot with a .22-caliber pistol, electrocuted, drowned, hanged or slammed to the ground for lacking a desire to fight.
Vick, an All-Pro quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, was suspended indefinitely and is serving 23 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in August to bankrolling the dogfighting operation and helping to kill as many as eight dogs. Three co-defendants also pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison.
About 50 dogs were rescued.
Animal advocates are divided over whether fighting dogs can be trusted to have new lives as pets or working dogs. One of the dogs seized at Bad Newz was put down as too aggressive, but the others were dispersed to sanctuaries and training facilities across the country.
An `incredible' difference with patients
One of them was Leo, who ended up in the care of Marthina McClay, a certified trainer and counselor in Los Gatos, near San Francisco. McClay is president of Our Pack, an advocacy group for pit bulls.
"He was a little like a caveman at a tea party," McClay said. "He didn't have a lot of training."
But after five weeks of intense instruction and supervision, and more weeks of acclimation, Leo is now - with all due respect -a ice cream cat. He loves putting his head on a patient's lap and batting his big brown eyes.
"The difference that he's had with our patients has been incredible - the smiles on their faces, the joy when they see him," said Reed of the cancer center.
"Leo is a survivor and our patients are survivors, and I think they can relate to each other," she said.
Beaten-down dog from Vick case has his day
Pit bull rescued from famous dogfighting ring now helps cancer patients
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - It's a dog's life. And for Leo it couldn't be better.
Leo - rescued from heavy chains that confined him as one of the pit bulls in former NFL quarterback Michael Vick's dogfighting ring - is a lover, not a fighter. He now happily frolics in a clown collar as he makes the rounds at the Camino Infusion Center, where he brings comfort to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Despite his training as a killer, Leo is a sweetheart as he visits his friends on the ward.
"He is wonderful, and all the patients love Leo," said Paula Reed, the facility's oncology director. "They really love his eyes and gentleness."
Six months ago, Leo should have been dead.
When officers raided Vick's Bad Newz Kennels in Smithfield, Va., last year, they found dogs, some injured and scarred, chained to buried car axles. Forensic experts discovered remains of dogs that had been shot with a .22-caliber pistol, electrocuted, drowned, hanged or slammed to the ground for lacking a desire to fight.
Vick, an All-Pro quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, was suspended indefinitely and is serving 23 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in August to bankrolling the dogfighting operation and helping to kill as many as eight dogs. Three co-defendants also pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison.
About 50 dogs were rescued.
Animal advocates are divided over whether fighting dogs can be trusted to have new lives as pets or working dogs. One of the dogs seized at Bad Newz was put down as too aggressive, but the others were dispersed to sanctuaries and training facilities across the country.
An `incredible' difference with patients
One of them was Leo, who ended up in the care of Marthina McClay, a certified trainer and counselor in Los Gatos, near San Francisco. McClay is president of Our Pack, an advocacy group for pit bulls.
"He was a little like a caveman at a tea party," McClay said. "He didn't have a lot of training."
But after five weeks of intense instruction and supervision, and more weeks of acclimation, Leo is now - with all due respect -a ice cream cat. He loves putting his head on a patient's lap and batting his big brown eyes.
"The difference that he's had with our patients has been incredible - the smiles on their faces, the joy when they see him," said Reed of the cancer center.
"Leo is a survivor and our patients are survivors, and I think they can relate to each other," she said.
Comments
Too old to live...too young to die...
Ben
God bless those who do.
I wish Leo many happy (and trouble free) years in his new home and occupation. I hope the ending to his story is as happy as it is at the present.
Please take this * looking thing off my neck
Oh well ... he was just misunderstood [:o)]
? otherwise, you'll find an excuse.
I bet you all that I can tame that...I mean Vick, as well as that poor dog was treated![:(!][}:)]I can just hear him now:"I gots that Mister Earl! Don't you be bothering yourself with this here yard work! Mister Earl, you just go set down and has another mint-julip."[;)]
Another classic,.......don't quite know about you![:D]
Please take this * looking thing off my neck
A very clever disguise, but no, it's not working....
"Leo is now - with all due respect -a ice cream cat. "
What's an "ice cream cat"?
I also hope that in prison, Vick takes more poundings than Iwo Jima before the invasion [;)]
Best, Joe
"We have a special work release program for you. Instead of doing your last 12 months in jail, you will spend 12 months in the custody of Mr. Earl down in New Orleans."
The warden will tell Vick:
"We have a special work release program for you. Instead of doing your last 12 months in jail, you will spend 12 months in the custody of Mr. Earl down in New Orleans."
That's one "cruel and unusual punishment" I'm willing to let slide
I also hope that in prison, Vick takes more poundings than Iwo Jima before the invasion [;)]he's going to get pounded and invaded at the same time. heh heh heh. [xx(]
quote:Originally posted by KSUmarksman
I also hope that in prison, Vick takes more poundings than Iwo Jima before the invasion [;)]he's going to get pounded and invaded at the same time. heh heh heh. [xx(]
Somehow I doubt that. Abusing dogs ain't abusing kids.
Vick has enough thug "credentials" to keep him not only safe, but relatively comfortable