Happy National Dog Day! (And Happy Pit Bull Week!)
Dog bless America, it's National Dog Day!
Did you know it's also Pit Bull Week? The Huffington Post celebrates Pit Bull Week every year with lots of great articles about pitbulls and the families who love them. As one Huffpost writer says, "Pit bulls are dogs. Just dogs. Gloriously, dogs."
If you're thinking, "Yeah pit bulls can be great, if they're raised right," you may want to rethink that. Consider the Vicktory dogs, the forty-nine pit bull-type ("Pit Bull" isn't technically a breed, it's any one or a mixture of several breeds with certain physical traits) dogs rescued from NFL quarterback Michael Vick's dogfighting operation, Bad Newz Kennels. Bad Newz Kennels was one of the most well-funded and well-equipped professional level dogfighting operations out there and yet Vick and his pals were utter FAILURES at making their dogs into the vicious killers they wanted—one estimate says Vick and his team killed (and yes, Vick participated with his own two hands) more than 85% of the dogs they produced because they refused to fight. With the exception of one, all of the dogs that they hadn't killed (yet) when the fight ring was busted went on to become great family dogs, even therapy dogs, after they were rescued. Ray the Vicktory Dog, Handsome Dan, and Little Red are just a few of the Vicktory dogs who went on to live the good life they deserved all along, with people they could love who would love them back.
Michael Vick and his accomplices did everything in their power to make these dogs vicious- torturing, neglecting, and conditioning them in ways that were intended to make them dangerous... and they failed over and over. They proved that dogs, and pit bulls in particular, are born inherently good, and for 99% of them, no amount of torture, abuse, and cruelty will make them into irredeemable monsters, in spite of the best efforts of irredeemable monsters like Michael Vick. The Vicktory dogs were certainly not raised "right," but they rose above to become more outstanding members of society than their torturers will ever be, giving back to their communities every day as therapy dogs and members of loving families across the country. So no, it's not all how they're raised.
-BR
