Woof!

Luis and Tuesday at Greenwich at ECAD benefit

A wonderful book has come out, “Until Tuesday – A wounded warrior and the golden retriever who saved him.”

Luis Carlos Montalván is a writer, veteran with 17 years in the military (a captain in the U.S. Army) and an advocate.  In Iraq he was wounded incurring a traumatic brain injury, (TBI) post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and fractured vertebrae. TBI and PTSD have affected hundreds of thousands  of veterans. In 2005,  for instance, 200,000 veterans came back from the war with the illness. They suffered with nightmares, phobias, sleep problems black outs, depression. Coming to the rescue for Montalván was “ECAD (East Coast Assistants Dogs)” ECAD (East Coast Assistants Dogs) with their Project HEAL. These service dogs are trained just for the veterans with TBI and PTSD, and there is even no charge for the vet. The results are transforming.

Tuesday came from Project HEAL.  Their story is stunning.  I bought the book and I can’t stop reading it.  Take a look at Until Tuesday.

I met Luis last summer when I went to a benefit of ECAD’s Project Heal. I was so amazed at the dogs, the trainers and the veterans, that  I wrote a story and pictures for Greenwich Time.

Here is a taste of my story (below)…

It was a quiet day at a U.S. Air Force base in Turkey not long before 9/11, much too quiet, as Senior Airman Kim Specht and her unit were immersed in their task of inspecting aircraft.

Sensing something was amiss, Specht searched the base, finding none of the usual bustle and noise. Finally she met a patrolman, who told Specht that everybody was sealed safely away in shelters after word came of an incoming bomb attack — everybody except Specht and her unit, who were never told of the danger.

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, Specht simply waited to die.

“In my mind, I wondered if we would go quickly or slowly, painfully or not painfully,” remembers Specht, now retired from service and staying with friends in Greenwich.

The bombs never came, but the psychological damage from being forgotten would explode in her nightmares for years after.

“Being on high alert in a war zone 24 hours, not knowing if the gunfire I heard was friendly or not, was unsettling,” Specht said. “I had to be aware that my interaction with the locals might not be safe. I had to think about the food or drink, whether it was poisoned or had crushed glass in it. Also, there was a danger of being poisoned and/or sexually assaulted.”

Those brushes with death and constantly being on edge, as well as very real experiences of being harassed, would eventually send her over the brink of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Specht, like hundreds of thousands of her fellow veterans, has waged a personal war with her psychological demons, dealing with bipolar disorder, plus all the symptoms that come with PTSD — anxiety, depression, nightmares and a sleep disorder.

“I had no value of life, no desire. I felt alone,” she said after her seven years in the Air Force, after which she settled in Texas.

But while most veterans attempt to cope with medication and counseling, Specht is one of a unique few for whom salvation would come on four legs.

Air Force vet Kim Specht with her ECAD therapy dog Toby at the benefit for ECAD, in Greenwich, on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010.

Here is the link for the full story: warriors wounded psyches healed by service dogs.

Byline:  GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press

China dogs' rescue shows growing animal activism

BEIJING (AP) — After spotting a truck packed with hundreds of whimpering dogs on a Beijing highway, a man put out a call on a micro-blogging site, begging fellow animal lovers to help him force the driver to release the animals.

Around 200 people responded, blockading the truck at a toll booth for 15 hours until they finally negotiated the dogs’ release for $17,000, saving them from being slaughtered and served as food. Many of the animals were dehydrated, injured and suffering from a potentially deadly virus; at least 68 have been hospitalized.

Video footage taken at the site and provided to The Associated Press on Tuesday showed the animals hunched over or lying down in cramped metal crates in the back of the truck, many of them barking and whining.

“They were squeezing and pressing on each other and some were biting and fighting, and I saw some were injured or sick,” according to Li Wei, who is the manager of Capital Animal Welfare Association and one of the people who participated in the rescue. Li said at least one dog had died in the truck.

In this photo taken Friday, April 15, 2011 and released by Capital Animals Welfare Association, animal lovers use their cars to block a truck transporting dogs from Henan province to Jilin province as its passes a toll booth near Beijing, China. Chinese animal lovers mobilized by online calls for help blockaded a truck of hundreds of dogs being shipped off for food in a rare, permitted display of social action amid a broad crackdown on most kinds of activism. (AP Photo/Capital Animals Welfare Association)

The rescue was a rare successful case of social activism in China, where authorities are currently waging a brutal crackdown on dissent, locking up dozens of activists amid fears pro-democracy protests in the Middle East could catch on.

But the blockade may be more remarkable for what it shows about changes in Chinese society over the past decade as fantastic economic growth has bred a middle class with new sensibilities.

Pet ownership was once rare because the Communist Party condemned it as bourgeois and most people couldn’t afford to own cats or dogs. Both animals were typically eaten, and Friday night’s rescue has set off a debate that underscores the clash between those age-old traditions and the country’s growing animal rights movement.

One example of that tension is the police response to the rescue. They told the animal lovers that they were breaking the law by blocking traffic and said there was no legal reason to hold the truck because the shipment’s paperwork was in order.

Li said many in the group — including the man who put out the call on Sina Weibo, a popular Twitter-like microblogging site — suspected the dogs were stolen or otherwise illegally obtained. China has no animal protection laws, except for wild animals. The truck’s driver himself told the Global Times newspaper: “I transported dogs as (I would) pigs, cows and sheep. The country does not ban the consumption of dog meat.”

At one point, it looked as if the truck would be allowed to proceed. “We felt very helpless but we were not willing to let them go,” Li said.

That’s when the dogs — about 580 in all — were bought off the driver for 115,000 yuan ($17,606), mostly contributed by a pet company and an animal protection foundation, Li said.

Now dozens of volunteers have flocked to the Dongxing Animal Hospital in Beijing where they are helping to clean cages, mop floors and disinfect visitors.

Aa dog which was rescued from a truck and treated for parvovirus looks out from a cage at an animal hospital in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 19, 2011.

On Tuesday, 68 dogs filled every room of the hospital, with a few lying in cages in the corridors. Many had bandaged legs and were hooked up to intravenous drips.

Most were severely dehydrated and some had parvovirus, a potentially deadly virus that infects the intestine, said hospital director Zhu Mingke. Almost all of them suffered external injuries, he said.

The rest of the dogs have been taken to a property on the northern outskirts of Beijing where Li’s group is caring for them.

“When I saw the poor dogs on Twitter, I cried and cried, but I thought there was no way they could stop the truck. So I was very surprised when they did it and I wanted to help,” said Chen Yang, 30, a woman in tight jeans who tended to a dog that had given birth to four puppies just after the rescue.

The volunteer response indicates a growing awareness for animal rights that shows that social attitudes have shifted with growing affluence, said Lu Yunfeng, a sociology professor at Peking University.

“Dogs were historically on the food list in China and South Korea, while they were loved in Western countries,” Lu said.

But in China, “as people became well-off, they had money to raise dogs, and while raising these dogs, they developed feelings for dogs,” he said.

China still has a shoddy record on animal rights: There is little animal welfare legislation, many zoos are poorly run and animal parts are traded for use in traditional medicine.

But in recent years, activists have criticized government-ordered mass killing of dogs during rabies outbreaks, protested outside government offices against the slaughter of cats for food, and urged China to phase out bear farms where bile is harvested for traditional medicine.

Recently Adopt-A-Dog rescued 10 puppies and dogs from puppy mills in the Midwest.  This was part of a transport of 160 dogs and puppies  sponsored by Best Friends Animal Society. I went up to the Adopt-A-Dog’s kennel at Armonk, N.Y. to see the puppies.  Here are some of them:

Nancy Solis, of Greenwich-based Adopt-A-Dog, cuddles LIttle Caesar, a Dachshund rescued from puppy mills in the Midwest.

A 5-month-old Maltase at Adopt-A-Dog's shelter in Armonk, N.Y., rescued from puppy mills in the Midwest, part of a transport of 160 dogs.

Rusty, a 1-year old beagle at Greenwich-based Adopt-A-Dog's shelter in Armonk, N.Y. rescued from puppy mills in the Midwest.

Anita, a Shih Tzu, and Ginger, a Chihuahua, at Greenwich-based Adopt-A-Dog rescued from puppy mills in the Midwest

Louie, a Boxer, at Greenwich-based Adopt-A-Dog, rescued from puppy mills in the Midwest.

And speaking about puppy mills, if you are near Fairfield, CT, Westport Coalition Against Puppy Mills invites to a special fundraising, with the film “Madonna of the Mills,” on Saturday, April 16th, 1:oo – 3:30pm.

Madonna of the Mills

In this Sept. 2009 handout photo provided by Janet Kessler, a coyote is shown on a public street in San Francisco. However you feel about coyotes, they're an increasingly visible fact of life in many San Francisco neighborhoods, often straying beyond protected parkland and out into highly exposed residential areas. Wildlife researchers estimate that about a dozen coyotes live in San Francisco, a city with the second-highest population density in the country that's surrounded on three sides by water. (AP Photo/Janet Kessler)

SF residents learn to coexist with urban coyotes
ROBIN HINDERY,Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Armed with a camera and a sturdy pair of boots, Janet Kessler spends most of her days roaming through lush parklands in pursuit of some of San Francisco’s most unlikely inhabitants — the city’s increasingly visible population of coyotes.

“They are my passion,” said Kessler, a 35-year San Francisco resident who has been observing and photographing coyotes in four city parks. “It’s this contradiction of an urban, settled environment and wild animals, and I find it thrilling.”

Wildlife researchers estimate that about a dozen coyotes live in San Francisco, with the first sighting in decades reported in 2001 in the Presidio, a federal park and residential neighborhood located on the city’s northern tip.

The coyotes’ ability to adapt to life in the country’s second-most densely populated major city has intrigued experts and provoked even far-fetched theories about how they came to set up residence in a city surrounded by water on three sides.

Although some view the coyotes as a hazard to pets and children, many residents have welcomed their presence, even when they stray boldly onto the streets.

“In recent years, we’ve had hawks, owls, coyotes return to this area, and it’s good to see wildlife coming back,” said John Wilk, who lives in the Diamond Heights neighborhood adjacent to Glen Canyon Park, one of the most well-known coyote habitats. Wilk said he’s had four coyote sightings on local streets and in the parking lot of the Safeway supermarket near his home.

San Francisco filmmaker Melissa Peabody was inspired to make a documentary about the coyotes after reading about one that had taken up residence a block from her house, on Bernal Hill, a 24-acre patch of native grassland bounded by residential neighborhoods. Her 2008 film, “San Francisco–Still Wild at Heart,” examines how coyotes impact urban ecosystems.

“This coyote had to find its way through a challenging and dense urban landscape to get to a beautiful but modest park, where it could take a breather,” Peabody said. “It drew my respect, my sympathy and my curiosity.”

Lt. Le-Ellis Brown, who keeps track of coyotes for the city’s Animal Care and Control agency, says reports of attacks on humans are virtually nonexistent, though they have been known to chase unleashed dogs and prey upon the occasional cat. He said about half the calls the agency receives about coyotes are complaints related to the callers’ pets, while the rest are reports of coyote sightings.

“I think a lot of people know it’s kind of cool to see a coyote,” Brown said.

But others who frequent the parks or live near coyote habitats say the animals are an unwelcome addition to the urban landscape.

Holly Davidson, a resident of the Presidio, said she frequently encounters coyotes in neighbors’ yards when out walking with her yellow Labrador and 3-year-old son.

“These days we see them all the time. They are everywhere and have become an aggressive pest,” she said.

“There are people whose attitude is, ‘Get them out of here,’” said Sally Stephens, chair of San Francisco Dog Owners, a nonprofit with about 900 paying members. “I know people who have modified their use of the parks by coming at times of day when coyotes are less likely to be out and about.”

But Stephens said she thinks most people — including most dog owners — are either unaware or accepting of the coyotes. The city has done a good job educating residents about the dangers of allowing dogs to roam off-leash in coyote habitats and the importance of maintaining a safe distance from the animals, she said.

A mated pair of coyotes living in Golden Gate Park were shot and killed by officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture four years ago after they reportedly charged a pair of dogs. Animal control later said the coyotes appeared to have been regularly fed by humans, which is illegal in San Francisco.

Nine days after the shootings, a coyote pup was found dead nearby after apparently being hit by a car.

The urban coyotes’ origins have been a source of considerable speculation. Some wonder whether they were planted by humans to help manage the city’s populations of feral cats, gophers and other small animals. Others suggest they always have been there and have only become more visible as the city eliminates protective brush and plant life from the parks.

Initially, wildlife experts assumed the coyote spotted in 2001 traveled to the Presidio from the south — the only side of the city not bordered by water. But researchers from the University of California, Davis and the U.S. Geological Survey obtained a blood sample from the animal that revealed it came from a population based at least 12 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

While it was conceivable that a human transported the animal to the city, the most likely explanation was that it crossed the bridge on its own, the researchers concluded.

However they got to San Francisco, the coyotes are now a fact of life and city residents must learn to coexist with the creatures, advocates say.

Kessler said she hopes her photographs, as well as a website and blog she has created, will expose people to the beauty and majesty of the animals and clear up misconceptions.

“Rumors are the thing that’s going to hurt the coyotes the most,” she said. “People have to learn that the coyotes are not going to hurt them. Slowly, hopefully, that kind of negative thinking will change.”

In this June 2010 photo provided by Janet Kessler, two coyotes are shown on a path in a public park in San Francisco. However you feel about coyotes, they're an increasingly visible fact of life in many San Francisco neighborhoods, often straying beyond protected parkland and out into highly exposed residential areas. Wildlife researchers estimate that about a dozen coyotes live in San Francisco, a city with the second-highest population density in the country that's surrounded on three sides by water. (AP Photo/Janet Kessler) NO SALES MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Here is a story from The New York Times about Yale University’s library.  Apparently they also have a therapy dog which you can “take out” along with the books.  Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/education/22dog.html

I always look for dogs at parades, especially one like Greenwich’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Most dogs are afraid of bagpipes. Only some are able to listen to that kind of music.  Here are the some of the bravest.

Otto Lauersdorf keeps his daughter's dog, Lola warm during the St.Patrick's Day parade.

. Dink, 5, a peekapoo belonging to Sheryl Mandala, sports a Irish green hat for the St. Patrick's Day parade.

Hopefully there wasn’t very many green dogs.  I found one:

Mary Elizabeth Gross, from Stamford, holds her green dog, Tina. Tina is a 1 year old teacup poodle, who Gross dyed green with food coloring in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

Colin, an Irish wolf hound, nestles close to owner Brenda Schlesinger, before the start of the St Patrick's Day parade.

Greenwich St. Patrick Day parade is March 20, 2011.  Adopt-A-Dog will be there with their dogs too.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Daniel Patrick, 2, a West Highland White terrier, sits on the lap of his owner, Anne Foley, to watch the Greenwich St. Patrick's Day parade.

Jan. 20, 2011, Ellen gets a hug from Dogtown caregiver Michelle Logan in Kanab, Utah. Ellen is one of 13 pit bulls slowly recovering at the Best Friends Animal Society in the wilderness of Utah, a world away from where their lives began, chained in basements and forced into dogfighting rings as part of the business bankrolled by football player Michael Vick. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

I always felt that Michael should stay in prison…those poor dogs.   Fortunately they have wonderful caretakers at Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah. -Helen

KANAB, Utah (AP) — At the Pro Bowl this weekend in Hawaii, Michael Vick will start at quarterback — an unmistakable benchmark for what has been a rapid, successful and, in some circles, surprising comeback. A few thousand miles away in the wilderness of Utah, the pit bulls Vick once owned are making a comeback of their own, though theirs has been a much slower, steadier climb.

Take the case of Little Red. Three years ago, she would race to the nearest corner and cower, her face buried against the wall, at the sight of any human or dog. Or Ellen, who would growl at anyone who came near her, especially if they dared glance over at her food dish. Both dogs had such bad problems, experts said, they’d be better off dead.

These days, though, Little Red wags her tail a mile a minute and is almost inseparable from her new, best buddy — a cattle dog mix named Google. And Ellen, a tannish-brown bundle of energy, still loves her food but loves her visitors even more — smothering them with kisses as soon as they walk through the door.

These dogs and 13 others are rehabilitating at the Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, a world away from where their lives began, chained in basements and forced into dogfighting rings as part of the business bankrolled by Vick, the Eagles quarterback who has been out of prison for more than a year, and just this week received his first paid endorsement deal since his release.

On the one hand, the Vick dogs are all success stories — on the road to recovery and serving as ambassadors for a breed that has been widely derided as too dangerous. In another respect, though, their recoveries are slow and sometimes painful, many filled with diseases, injuries and skittishness that manifested themselves under their stewardship of Vick.

“Some people might say, ‘Three years, that seems like such a long time,’” said John Garcia, a manager of the dog operation at Best Friends, who has done extensive work with the Vick pit bulls. “But we measure their progress in baby steps, especially when they were on the other side of this for as long as some of these dogs were.”

Much as it has been hard to fit the story of Vick’s comeback in a tidy little box, the trajectory of these dogs’ lives, their recovery and the message they send, is difficult to sum up. It wasn’t surprising, then, that while Vick made his way into the news this season by suggesting he might someday want to be a dog owner again — prompting a flurry of opinions, with the U.S. Humane Society and even President Obama weighing in — the folks at Best Friends stayed mostly silent.

They released a two-sentence statement saying that, given what his dogs have been through, the quarterback shouldn’t qualify as a dog owner. But Best Friends also has conceded that Vick has put a brighter spotlight on the problem of dogfighting and the rehabilitation of pit bulls than they ever imagined possible.

“I’d have to say that he brought attention to the issue in a rather unfortunate way,” said Best Friends co-founder Francis Battista. “It’s like people dying in a burning building. It brings attention to the fire codes. It’s not something you ever want to happen, but now that it’s become public and been addressed, there’s a positive.

“But how do you rank the damage and pain he caused?” Battista says.

In this photo taken Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011, Scars from fighting mark the face of Lucas, the grand champion of football player Michael Vick's fighting dogs in Kanab, Utah. Lucas is one of 13 pit bulls slowly recovering at the Best Friends Animal Society in the wilderness of Utah, a world away from where their lives began, chained in basements and forced into dogfighting rings as part of the business bankrolled by Vick. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

At Best Friends, a 3,800-acre sanctuary that’s home to 417 dogs, 658 cats, 340 rabbits and a few dozen horses, pigs and parrots, they prefer to celebrate success stories. There are small victories, such as the days when Little Red gets approached by a group of unfamiliar people and stands there, wagging her tail and waiting to be petted. And there are big ones, such as the day when the dogs find permanent homes, the way six of the 22 that originally were brought to Best Friends have thus far.

“When they announced on TV that Michael Vick was eligible to play football again, I lost every single bit of inner peace,” said Erika, who adopted one of the Vick dogs, Oliver, and didn’t want her last name used because she doesn’t want herself or Oliver to be targeted for harassment. “But I thought, no, no, no, don’t get angry. Don’t let a person like that ruin you. If I can’t control what happens to him, I can control what happens to me and I can channel this anger into a big bunch of love.”

And so, she met Oliver, the dog they said would never kiss a human, but who now sleeps with his pet parent and showers her with kisses every morning when she wakes up.

“The ironic thing to me is, all along, Vick was the, quote, superstar, but all you ever hear about is how great his victims are doing,” Erika said. “Now, all his victims are the actual superstars. I’ve got one of the real superstars sitting beside me.”

Battered and bruised as they’ve been, it’s a rigorous process for these dogs to find permanent homes.

After learning the most basic of functions — walking up stairs, climbing into a car and other taken-for-granted “basics” not always taught in the dank, cruel world in which they lived under Vick’s care — they were slowly introduced into what would become their “normal” life at the sanctuary.

They live in indoor-outdoor dog runs, with plenty of room for exercise. The dogs that can handle it have been slowly introduced to other dogs and a few, such as Oscar and Squeaker, have become fast friends and live together.

They go on long walks, learn how to handle new environments and encountering different animals, and generally live a good life at a so-called “no-kill” sanctuary where they have a guaranteed home until they’re adopted.

Before most of these dogs leave Best Friends for good, they’ll have to pass the Canine Good Citizen test, which requires, among other things, that they accept friendly strangers, walk obediently on a leash and react calmly to other dogs. From there, they have to find the right home, then spend a successful six months in a foster home.

And Best Friends isn’t simply looking for any pet lover for the Vick dogs.

In this photo taken Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011, Dogtown caregiver Kathy Moore works on social skills with Ray in Kanab, Utah. Ray is one of 13 pit bulls slowly recovering at the Best Friends Animal Society in the wilderness of Utah, a world away from where their lives began, chained in basements and forced into dogfighting rings as part of the business bankrolled by football player Michael Vick. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

“We feel like dogs going into these homes are being ambassadors” for the breed, Garcia said. “They’re not just adopting a dog, but fighting the good fight.”

By spreading the message that pit bulls are only as nice, or vicious, as their owners train them to be, the Vick dogs are helping rewrite the book on both the public perception of the breed — banned in some cities and discriminated against by many insurance companies — and long-held beliefs inside the animal-training community about the efficacy of rehabilitating dogs rescued from dogfighting rings.

In 2009, law enforcement completed the biggest bust of dogfighting operations in American history, pulling 427 animals out of rings in Missouri and surrounding states. Dogs rescued from the “Missouri 500″ case, as it became known because some of the dogs subsequently gave birth, were given shelter and cared for by the Humane Society of Missouri.

In the past, it’s likely none of the dogs would have even been given a chance. But over the span of months and years, the Humane Society tried to rehabilitate and find new homes for all the animals.

As of now, 247 of them have made it.

“You get them in a shelter and see this dog with huge, open wounds that haven’t been treated, and he’s still wagging his tail and licking your hand and looking at you with big, brown doggie eyes,” said Debbie Hill, the Humane Society’s vice president of operations. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a golden retriever, a Saint Bernard or a pit bull. They all have that look of, ‘Something terrible happened to me and I didn’t deserve that.’ It’s still a dog. They still deserve a second chance.”

With an annual budget of $43 million that comes exclusively from donations, some critics in the animal-welfare business deride Best Friends as an unrealistic utopia — a facility that has the time and resources to work with animals in a way hardly anyone else can.

But they make no apologies, and their work with the Vick dogs is important. After the raid on the Vick dogfighting ring, animal behaviorists labeled the pit bulls as hopeless and recommended they be euthanized. Best Friends stepped in, did its own evaluations and offered to take the toughest cases.

Many people considered the toughest of the tough to be Lucas, the pit bull who was Vick’s top fighter. These days, the biggest problem you might have is prying him out of your lap when you want to stand up.

Still, the scars on his face are impossible to miss. He also has a tick-borne blood disease called Bebesia, common among fighters who suffer many an open wound. Despite his excellent behavior, Lucas is one of two Vick dogs who cannot be adopted — he was determined to have had too rough a history to live outside the sanctuary.

As is illustrated by spending time with the one-time champion and current sweetheart, the cruelest twist in the Vick story is that the QB and his cohorts took advantage of the pit bull’s instinctive desire to please humans by turning them into fighters who were rewarded by their masters for success in the ring.

Eventually, Vick and company got caught.

In April 2007, about six dozen dogs were seized from Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels operation and Vick was subsequently sentenced to 23 months in federal prison.

He was reinstated to the NFL for the 2009 season and has been doing public-service work, most notably in conjunction with the Humane Society of the United States, which calls his story “the strongest possible example of why dogfighting is a dead end.”

Not everyone sees it that way, however.

His recent suggestion that getting another dog “would be a big step for me in the rehabilitation process,” and the debate that ensued, left some wondering if he truly feels remorse for what he did.

“If you got the sense that every day, he woke up and lived with that and wrestled with that, I think there would be a different response from the animal-loving public,” Battista said. “That’s not what he has communicated. It’s not to say he needs to do it. But if there’s any confusion of why a big chunk of the public doesn’t feel that he’s genuine, that’s why. There isn’t a sense of him connecting with his own behavior and own conscience at a level that most people can understand.”

So, while football fans and animal lovers continue to judge Vick on very different scales, the dogs in Utah keep taking two steps forward and one step back.

In this photo taken Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011, Georgia leads the way through Dogtown while being walked by her caregivers in Kanab, Utah. Georgia is one of 13 pit bulls slowly recovering at the Best Friends Animal Society in the wilderness of Utah, a world away from where their lives began, chained in basements and forced into dogfighting rings as part of the business bankrolled by football player Mic

Another of Vick’s prize pups, Georgia, recently had knee surgery, and while she’s still a camera-loving attention grabber, some of her progress was slowed in the aftermath of the operation.

Willie, one of the toughest cases among the Vick dogs, is getting better at interacting with new people but still has medical issues stemming from his own bout with Bebesia.

And Ellen — sweet as she is, still loves eating. Absolutely everything. Her toys. Her bed. The plastic lining of the doggie door.

All these problems are correctable, Garcia insists. And time is on all these dogs’ side.

“Some say if a dog is bred to do something, you can’t undo that,” Garcia said. “But to me, that’s like saying if everyone in your family has always fought in a war, you’re a warrior and you’re destined to do this. Not true. Everyone’s an individual. You can choose your own path in life. Same with dogs. The only difference is, they can’t choose it. We choose it for them.”

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