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When dogs used for fighting are taken out of their abusive situations, they should be given a chance to live a normal life.
According to CNN, 47 pit bulls were taken from property owned by Michael Vick. All the dogs went to animal rehabilitation centers. The hope is that with time, some of them will be able to be adopted and learn what life is like as a loved pet.
Many of these dogs are living in Utah at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. This is a facility home to about 2,000 animals on any given day, according to its web site. The animals that go there stay until they are well enough to live the rest of their lives as a pet. The ones that cannot live in society again stay at the sanctuary. This is a happy ending for so many dogs. No animals are euthanized unless they are suffering from terminal illness or are in incredible pain.
Unfortunately, not every dog can possibly go to a rehabilitation center. Although the pit bulls formerly owned by Vick are in good hands, hundreds of pit bulls that have never been trained to fight sit in rescue organizations across the country, waiting for a home. Just to give you some idea, today I did a search on Petfinder for pit bull terrier. More than 9,100 profiles appeared. These dogs sit in cages for months at a time, becoming more and more unsocialized, frustrated and bored. A life in a cage is not a life for a dog.
I believe all dogs can be rehabilitated if they are given enough time, love and training, even the most extreme cases. But there are not enough resources to offer help like this to every dog. The animals that end up at Best Friends and places like it are lucky. They have acres to run and play on, and they get the best care. If there were more facilities like this across the country, blameless dogs and cats would not have to be euthanized every day.
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March 16th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
ooo yes- bf animal sanctuary is a lovely place.