The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption
Jim Gorant
Language: English
Pages: 304
ISBN: 159240667X
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
The bestselling story of survival and our powerful bond with man's best friend, in the aftermath of the nation's most notorious animal cruelty case. Featuring a new Afterword with updates on the Vick dogs.
Animal lovers and sports fans were shocked when the story broke about NFL player Michael Vick's brutal dog-fighting operation. But what became of the fifty-one dogs who survived? As acclaimed writer Jim Gorant reveals, their story is the truly newsworthy aspect of this case. The Lost Dogs traces the effort to bring Vick to justice and turns the spotlight on these infamous pit bulls, which were saved from euthanasia by an outpouring of public appeals coupled with a court order that Vick pay nearly a million dollars in "restitution" to the dogs.
As an ASPCA-led team evaluated each one, they found a few hardened fighters, but most were lovable, friendly creatures desperate for compassion. In The Lost Dogs, we meet these amazing animals, many of whom now live in loving homes and work in therapy programs. The Lost Dogs exposes the terrible practice of dog fighting and shows us that even after being subjected to heartbreaking abuse, above all, a dog still wants to be man's best friend.
like to go back to Vick’s house and dig up the dogs again?” There was silence. Gill explained that this time it would be different. This time they would take the dogs and ship them back to Merck’s lab for a full analysis. It was the type of information that could solidify Brownie beyond question and build an insurmountable stockpile of evidence. Knorr immediately set to planning. The case was picking up steam, and the U.S. attorney’s office was abuzz with activity. Knorr and Brinkman were
the district attorney’s office that’s known for two things: its long bar with a trough of ice running down the middle so patrons can keep their beer cold while they chat, and its beer menu—forty-six selections on tap plus more than 250 bottled varieties and two cask-conditioned ales. In the office and at the bar Brinkman, Knorr, Gill, and a few of their colleagues talked through the possibilities. Despite the variety of beer available, Brinkman never ordered anything but Miller Lite, which Knorr
great athletic ability, first in baseball and then in football. He followed in the footsteps of an older cousin, Aaron Brooks, who was a star quarterback in high school, then at the University of Virginia, and in the NFL. Four years younger than Brooks, Michael Vick went to the same high school to play for the same coach, Tommy Reamon, a former NFL player himself. After Vick’s freshman season, that school, Homer L. Ferguson High, closed and both he and Reamon moved on to Warwick High. At
a second death sentence at the hands of the government, Jonny Justice walked into the San Mateo Public Library and lay down on a blanket in a cavernous conference room in the back of the building. At 4:00 P.M. the doors swung open and a few kids came in, trailed by a parent. They sat in a little circle on the floor and one by one they moved onto Jonny’s blanket and read a short book—Biscuit’s New Trick or The Heart of the Jungle—their cracking voices swallowed by the silence of the giant room.
get me to stop calling.” In the early days he ran sting operations designed to catch people using USDA-issued food stamps to buy drugs and launder drug money, and he threw himself into the work. Although he was a typical suburban dad who lived in a tidy house with his first wife, Debbie, and their two kids, he let his hair and beard grow and set off to work in the morning in an old green army jacket. He developed two cover stories to explain how he got the food stamps. Sometimes he would claim