Category: Pittie Party

R.I.P. Cherry, One of the Last Surviving Vicktory Dogs

Nearly 13 years ago, Cherry was one of the 51 Pit Bulls rescued from a life of horror at Michael Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels in Virginia.

Prior to 2007, most dogs rescued from fighting operations were euthanized. Even Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States at the time, said the rescued Vick dogs would never be suitable as pets and thus should all be destroyed.

But dog experts at animal welfare organizations including the Best Friends Animal Society (BFAS), Richmond Animal League and BAD RAP knew better. They took in the Vick survivors, rehabilitated them and found them loving forever homes in which these “unadoptable” survivors thrived, earning them the name “Vicktory Dogs.” Many of them became beloved therapy dogs. One of the survivors, Jonny Justice, was awarded the prestigious ASPCA Dog of the Year award in 2014.

Cherry, just a puppy in 2007, was taken in by BFAS. “Cherry arrived at Best Friends looking like he wanted to stick his head in a hole and never come out,” according to Julie Castle, CEO of BFAS, in The Best Friends Blog. “The word ‘withdrawn’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. He was living in his own world, trapped in a nightmare replaying over and over inside his head.”

Thanks to the tender, loving care he received at BFAS, Cherry eventually came out of his shell. He turned out to be a big ol’ snugglebug, wanting to cuddle with people, other dogs — and even cats.

“It was so wonderful to see Cherry become the squooshy-faced lap dog he’d always wanted to be — wonderful because it happened for him and wonderful that he’d come so far from his sad past of abuse,” Castle wrote.

Cherry was adopted by Paul and Melissa Fiaccone. He enjoyed a long, loving life in his forever home. He became a Pit Bull ambassador, helping people realize that it’s possible for dogs to be rehabilitated after experiencing such horrible trauma.

Tragically, many of the dogs at Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels never got a second chance like Cherry and his fellow Vicktory Dogs. According to the federal indictment, Vick himself killed poorly performing dogs by hanging them or repeatedly slamming them to the ground. When three dogs survived being hanged, Vick helped hold their heads underwater until they drowned.

Vick went to prison for 18 months in 2007 and was then awarded the second chance he’d deprived of all those dogs he killed. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles and quickly resumed his NFL career. Most recently the NFL has given him the honor of being a “legends captain” for the 2020 Pro Bowl. Over 1.4 million people have signed online petitions urging the NFL to choose a more worthy “legend.”

If anyone deserves legend status, it’s Cherry and the Vicktory Dogs. Sadly, Cherry recently had a mass growing on his spleen and had become lethargic. According to his dog dad, Paul Fiaccone, “the message was clear from him. He was tired, he was ready. Melissa and I held his paws and hugged him tightly as he crossed the Rainbow Bridge. He was extremely peaceful and we are honored to have been with him at his time of need.”

Paul wrote that during their years together, Cherry taught him a very important lesson: to live. “Life will always throw you curveballs, but live it and live it well,” he wrote. “Cherry gave life all he had and he wrung every ounce out of his time here. He just loved life and loved sharing his love with his family, friends and whomever he met.

“Today we mourn the loss of Cherry, but tomorrow we live. We live for Cherry.”

Photo: Best Friends Animal Society/YouTube

Dogfighting Survivor Becomes New Jersey’s First Pit Bull Arson Officer

Unlike his namesake, Hansel’s early life was no fairy tale. In 2015, when he was only 7 weeks old, the Pit Bull was rescued from a dogfighting operation in Canada.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at Throw Away Dogs Project, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit that trains rescued dogs to become K9 officers and service dogs, young Hansel is about to become the first-ever Pit Bull arson-detection officer in the state of New Jersey.

“He exhibited all the qualities that a regular working dog, police K9 dog has,” Carol Skaziak, the founder of Throw Away Dogs, told News 12.

Hansel will start his new job at the Millville Fire Department on Jan. 19 alongside his partner, firefighter Tyler Van Leer. The two spent 15 weeks in training at the  New Jersey Police K9 Association’s academy. They did about 12 practice searches every day.

Arson dogs, also known as accelerant detection canines (ADCs), are trained to sniff out tiny traces of gasoline, lighter fluid, and other accelerants that may have been used to intentionally start a fire. “Canine teams have proven to be the most effective tool that fire investigators can use to locate accelerants,” according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

“In the instance where the scene is safe, I’ll determine where the point of origin is and then I’ll dig out that area, and then Hansel will come in and sniff out the area that I’ve dug out,” Van Leer told News 12. “If he sits, then I’ll take evidence. If he doesn’t sit, then it most likely was not an intentionally set fire.”

Van Leer said Hansel is super excited about his new job. “When I put on his harness and I tell him, ‘Do you want to go to work?’ he literally does laps in his crate,” he told News 12.

“Hansel has been through hell and back, and absolutely needed to find his niche, his person — and Fireman Van Leer is that person and his job,” Skaziak told News 12. “Now he’s going to have a purpose.”

Not only that, but Hansel will also be an ambassador for his often misunderstood breed. His work will “really help change the minds of a lot of people” regarding Pit Bulls, New Jersey Police K9 Association President Kenneth Sacavitch told News 12.

To make a donation to help other rescued dogs “have a purpose,” visit the Throw Away Dogs Project website.

Photo: CBS Philly/YouTube

Hero Pit Bull Dies after Protecting His Family from a Deadly Snake

Zeus, a 9-month-old Pit Bull, played in his Webster, Fla., yard last week as 10-year-old Oriley Richardson and his 11-year-old brother, Orion, cleaned the young dog’s water bowl.

Suddenly Zeus pounced on the ground near the boys and started attacking something. Oriley thought Zeus was playing with a rope.

But it wasn’t a rope. It was a venomous coral snake. These snakes, with red, yellow and black bands, live in the southeastern United States. According to National Geographic, this snake is “famous as much for its potent venom as for the many rhymes — ‘Red and yellow, kill a fellow; red and black, friend of Jack'”—created to help distinguish between coral snakes and other non-venomous snakes with similar skin patterns.

Zeus used his body to cover the coral snake, laying on top of it to prevent it from moving toward the boys.

The dog’s eyes looked “bugged out,” the children’s’ mother, Gina Richardson, told CNN. When they turned Zeus over, they saw he had bitten off the snake’s head — but not before the snake bit him four times.

Although the Richardson family rushed Zeus to an animal hospital and a veterinarian immediately gave him anti-venom medication, the hero dog died the next day.

“I just started bawling,” Richardson told CNN. “My kids woke up and heard me crying and then they too started crying. We were all an emotional wreck.”

What’s even more heartbreaking is that Zeus died on Oriley’s birthday. “He was a good boy and I loved him with all my heart,” Oriley told CNN. “I played with him all the time. I feel sad and I miss him.”

The vet bill for Zeus was $1,000. But the Richardson family doesn’t have to worry about paying it, thanks to donations to a GoFundMe fundraiser from animal lovers touched by the Pit Bull’s heroism.

That heroism is the one upside to this tragedy. Zeus has been making national headlines for saving the lives of those boys.

Their father, Gary Richardson, told CNN that Zeus was his best friend. “I’m torn between wanting to be happy that this situation has brought awareness to his breed and their kind and loving nature, and the sorrow of having lost him,” he said.

He told FOX 35 Orlando that although he’d had many different animals in his life, “Pit Bulls are the most loyal dog I know of.” (I agree wholeheartedly.)

Gina Richardson noted that if a Pit Bull is aggressive, “most likely, it’s because they weren’t treated right,” she told FOX 35 Orlando. “If you treat them right, they would give their life for you and I owe my son’s life to him.”

Rest in peace, Zeus, and thank you for being such a very good boy.

Photo: Zeus the Hero Pitbull Vet Bills GoFundMe page

(Really) Good Boy! Pit Bull Saves Owner from Shark Attack

During an otherwise routine fishing trip a few weeks ago, James White felt an especially strong tug on the line.

He was on the shore of Bodega Bay in Northern California — which should be very familiar to fans of the Alfred Hitchcock classic, “The Birds,” (affiliate link) which was filmed there.  Whatever he had caught was super strong. It took him about 10 minutes to reel it in.

Perhaps as scary as those fictional flocks of bloodthirsty birds was what was on the other end of White’s fishing line. It was a six-foot-long, 100-pound sevengill shark.

When he tried to remove the hook, the shark bit White’s ankle and wouldn’t let go. “Immediately there was blood everywhere. The first bite punctured an artery,” White told NBC Bay Area. “The pressure was intense.”

White yelled to some nearby fishermen for help. Before they could reach him, his year-old Pit Bull, Darby, sprang into action. White had left Darby in his car (which is almost always not a good idea) because the location was near traffic. Darby somehow managed to push open a door and ran to his dog dad.

When Darby bit the shark’s gill, it sunk its teeth even deeper into White’s ankle. So Darby grabbed the shark’s tail in his mouth. “He literally ran up the hill with it and pulled it off my leg,” White told NBC Bay Area.

If Darby hadn’t come to his rescue, White may have lost his foot, or worse.

“He’s been a part of the family from day one,” White told NBC Bay Area. “Just now a little more.”

Despite this amazing case, you really should never, ever leave your dog in your car, especially during the summer. The interior temperature can quickly rise to well over 100 degrees. Too many dogs have died because of this. Fortunately, Darby survived and was able to save his owner’s life as well.

And yes, I do hope the sevengill shark, who was just minding its own business when it was caught, wasn’t seriously injured. White released the shark back into the ocean, where hopefully it will enjoy the rest of its life unperturbed.

Photo: @garvinthomas/Twitter

Hero Pit Bull Alerts Authorities to Gas Leak

Home alone Wednesday afternoon, a senior Pit Bull named Sadie sensed that something was very wrong in her Westchester County, N.Y. house. She dug out a wooden block keeping a sliding door shut and ran outside, knocking down a fence as she bolted out of the yard.

Someone a few blocks away called the police when they heard Sadie’s incessant barking. When officers arrived, Sadie ran off and took them “through several streets, and then lead them back to the dog’s residence into the backyard,” Lt. Lawrence Rotta with the Tuckahoe Police Department told WABC.

The officers noticed the broken fence as well as claw marks and blood on the sliding glass door. They also noticed the strong odor of gas coming from the basement. The officers called the Eastchester Fire Department and Con Edison, which arrived at the house and confirmed a gas leak.

Sadie’s owner, Serena Costello, was at work and her 4-year-old daughter was with a sitter when a friend called her and told her about all the activity at her house.

Sadie “is our hero,” Costello told WABC. She said that in 11 years, her dog had never run away before. “It’s just so out of character for her to do. She saved our lives.”

Rotta agreed. “The dog saved the house from a potential gas explosion and gas leak,” he told WABC. “Natural gas inside the house can accumulate to the point where, God forbid, someone would come home and turn on a light switch, and there could be a potential explosion,” he told News12.

The police had to give Costello a summons for having an unleashed dog. But after ConEd determined there was a gas leak, one of the officers “took the summons and ripped it up,” Costello told WABC. The leak has been repaired.

Good girl, Sadie, and many thanks to WABC, News12 and CBS New York for covering this positive Pit Bull story.

Photo via @ABC7NY/Twitter

 

 

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