THE LITTLE RED DOG

I’m reading Jim Gorant’s book ‘The Lost Dogs’ that tells the story of the Michael Vick Bad Newz Kennels dog fighting bust, the events that led up to the bust and of course what has happened since.  I’m not that far into the book yet and am at the point where an expert animal forensics person from the ASPCA had been brought on board in an effort to corroborate the confessions and stories that had been told about the operation, and Vick’s involvement, from the others involved in the dog fighting operation by documenting what several dogs (9 or more) had endured when they were killed for not wanting to fight other dogs. 

This book is by far the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to hear and even as tough as I am when it comes to things of this nature I found myself crying as I heard accounts of what the dogs, but one in particular, had endured at the hands of Vick and his crew.  The one in particular is referred to as ‘the little red dog’ in the book and has had what I suppose might be considered a starring role in the book from page one.

I don’t know how human beings can do what these men did to these dogs by forcing them to fight in the first place.  That alone seems a soulless thing for any human to do.  Just the forethought, logistics and implementation of planning that goes into a dog fighting operation seems to go, at least in my mind, against everything a human being should be.  But how these dogs that refused to fight were dispatched to be culled from their fighting stock goes far beyond anything I ever imagined a human could and would do to a dog; dogs that looked to their care takers for food, shelter, safety and most of all attention and affection.  Yes I understand that we humans are capable of incredibly heinous acts against one another and that is an issue that occupies my mind from time to time but when it comes to dogs or animals that depend on ‘us’ for their very lives there seems to be something, at least to me, that brings forth the strongest emotions.  Like the abuse and killing of innocent children, which is something that causes me emotional distress, the abuse and killing of these dogs weighs very heavy on my heart. 

I keep saying how tough I am emotionally and that is very true.  I find myself to have grown into a person who accepts what is and chooses to go forward from there never really allowing myself to get too affected emotionally by the situation at hand.  I have seen what unfettered emotions can do and I prefer not to put that kind of obstacle in front of me as I go through life trying to navigate as best I can the rigors of life.  Most especially since becoming an ‘official’ pit bull advocate I have relied on my emotional toughness to guide and help me not be dragged down by the situations I encounter that are often heart breaking. I keep my head up when some others are drowning in emotions knowing that if I can keep my head I can be a better helper, I can be more effective and I can make a bigger difference than if I allow myself to be heart broken.  But the little red dog is challenging me in this respect.  As I heard the account, as testified by one of the Bad Newz Kennels people and supported by forensic evidence, of the last hours of the little red dog’s life I wept and I am affected still.  It feels to me as if I just heard that my own dog had been forced to fight another dog and when refusing to fight that dog had been thrown down stairs and when it had not succumbed to one of their usual methods of dispatching a dog had repeatedly been slammed to the ground by Vick and one of his partners until it was dead.

I don’t know what to do with this except to see that little red dog as the best motivation to come along for a long time to continue advocating for these dogs.  In my five years of being a pit bull advocate I have not really gotten involved in the dog fighting aspect as I have had my hands full with housing breed discrimination, dogs needing out of shelters or rescued, helping those who can no longer keep their dogs find suitable and responsible new homes for them and educating the public about pit bulls and breed discrimination.  Dog fighting of course is a part of what we consider ‘the pit bull problem’ and I support anyone and everyone who works to put an end to dog fighting and to hold those who indulge in it accountable for their abuse, mishandling and killing of innocent dogs bred for their nefarious purposes.  I won’t be shifting my focus as a pit bull advocate to dog fighting as if I add any more to my plate I will take away from everything else that I do for these dogs but I will keep the little red dog in my mind as a dog that none of us could ever have helped but that many of us may be able to make sure never happens to other dogs.

In the end if you suspect dog fighting in your neighborhood, town or city please report it and if you donate to causes please find a trustworthy organization that focuses on and works to end dog fighting so that they may do more to help these dogs and hold those who fight them and who kill them when they will not fight accountable.

My being an advocate and the advocacy I co-founded has always been the ‘legacy’ of my half pit bull half Rottweiler dogs Zeus and Odin but from now on it’s also the legacy of the little red dog who’s short life existed in pain and who died so horrifically.  We must stand together calmly, logically, rationally and with resolve to help these dogs and the people who choose to have them responsibly.  We may feel emotionally overcome from time to time, as I am about the little red dog, but if we are to be successful and if we are to be effective we must strive to put our emotions on the back burner and approach this thing with our hearts and souls in a calm, rational, logical and effective way showing solidarity and resolve to change the way these dogs and all dogs are regarded in society today and in the future.  It’s in our hands and it will take more than tears of compassion and anger for those who would harm dogs in this way or in any way to get this done.  We can get it done but not as isolated groups but together as one group of people who will not stop until it is done.

In closing just please think about this.  If there are people who you have distanced yourself from for any reason who can help heal the rift.  If there are people you don’t agree with on some points who can help put your ego aside and do this for the dogs.  If there are people you just don’t like on a personal level understand that the dogs could care less about personal likes or dislikes and that it is the dogs we are here for and if we can’t work together for them overcoming our personal issues then we can’t help them.  And if we who are dedicating our lives to helping dogs can’t help them who will?