Who’s Still Guilty–Michael Vicks or Pit-Bulls?

Posted on August 14, 2009 by: WayCoolDogs

This morning Micheal Vicks is in the news as he has been signed with the Philadelphia Eagles NFL Football team. I personally am outraged that a man that financed and condoned the atrocities of dog fighting is being put back on a national team so people can cheer him as a football star.

Michael Vicks is a criminal. CRIMINAL. Can we spell that????????

Animals are living beings, they have physical and emotional feelings. The dogs that are not already dead as a consequence of his actions, have suffered beyond our imagination.

I was involved in the past in a pitbull rescue of 2 dogs back in 1995. Winston was 3 weeks old and covered in skin disease caused by bad nutrition and suffered poor eyesight all of his life. Abby came at 5 weeks and had been beaten and attacked by her own mother. These dogs were her brother and sister. The mother was eventually shot by a police officer trying to subdue her while she attempted to attack him.

The owners thought it was great fun to watch the mother dog swing a tricycle by the front tire while their son sat on the seat. This dog was vicious because the owners made her that way. And in most cases the same is true for most dogs that are vicious.

What a lot of people do not understand is that the American Pit Bull is not like a regular dog. They think differently. They take their cues from their owners. The play differently. They are cheek pullers. If you observe pit bull puppies playing you will see them grabbing each others cheeks as they play. Thus when a child plays with pit bull they may grab the child in the face. It is a normal behavior for them and must be retrained.

I worked with the two dogs for years. When they would grab each others cheeks, we would say NO! NO! We replaced the behavior with a long stick they could both put in their mouths at the same time and they would run like a little team of horses side by side.

Abby lived 15 years and was the best dog I ever had. However, I never left her alone with a grandchild. I never put her in a position that she would be tempted to react aggressively. Pit bulls are a constant work of art. It takes great responsibility on the owners part to maintain them at their best and to curb public opinion.

Winston always had vision issues and at the age of 5 years he started demonstrating odd behaviors. If another dog walked across the room in front of him he became aggressive and would bark, lashing out at them. This happened for the first time, the day before it all ended. I had walked out of the house to water the lawn and heard a horrible noise. I ran into the house to find him latched on to Abby, seemingly mad over an empty food pan. I got in the middle of them tring to seperate them and nothing worked. Finally, I yelled Jesus Help me!. Bedroom!

Suddenly he let her go. He walked into the bedroom and I was able to grab Abby and get her to safety. She had several puncture wounds and was treated at the vet. Winston was euthanized the same day. A necropsy revealed brain damage probably caused from poor nutrition in the mothers womb.

Not every rescue is a success. Not every dog is the same. But people like Micheal Vicks do not belong on the front line of our athlete hero lists. Certain breeds of dogs get a bad rap before they have a chance to show that the owner makes the difference. Good nutrition while Winston’s mother was pregnant could have changed his outcome. Good nutrition, responsible training and maintaining safety with any dog makes the difference.

As a groomer for over 28 years, I have been bitten more often by cockers, schnauzers and pomeranians than any other breeds. I am angered that people do not understance any breed can become vicious when not treated well.

I hope people will not condone Michael Vick playing something he loves, when all those dogs were not able to play something they loved.

(submitted by dog groomer, Peggy Winter of Overton NE. Thank you very much, Peggy, for a very educational article and 1st person information.)

We dedicate this video to all pit bulls killed and mistreated due to improper training, fear and ignorance.