Our Hen House

Book Review (and GIVEAWAY): The Lost Dogs

Posted on 13. Oct, 2010 by Jennifer Parrucci in Reading the Animal, The Visiting Animal

Jennifer Parrucci is our newest member of the flock here in Our Hen House. Jennifer will join Kyle in the review sphere, shedding light on animal related books that you need to read. We think it’s clucking fantastic that someone with such a palpable joie de vivre, not to mention smarts (and some gorgeous body art to boot) is joining the Our Hen House family. We’ve known Jennifer from her tremendous volunteer work with animal protection organizations including Farm Sanctuary and Best Friends Animal Society. Today, Jennifer will give you her review of the new book, The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick’s Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption (Gotham, 2010).

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The Lost Dogs by Jim Gorant

When the news broke that Michael Vick, star quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, was running a dog fighting operation from his Virginia home, emotions ran high. Horrified animal advocates called for harsh punishment. On the other hand, many sports fans demanded leniency – the Falcons’ shot at a championship was far more important than a crime that didn’t seem like a crime at all. Among it all, the hardest question to answer was, “what do we do with these dogs?”  In The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick’s Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption, Jim Gorant unravels the Vick case from every possible angle in order to answer that question.

After introducing us to the large cast of characters who brought Vick and his fellow dog fighters to justice, Gorant lays out the details of the case against them. Fortunately, he manages to give us a clear, layman’s picture of the challenges faced by investigators and prosecutors in cases involving animals, without losing the real story behind a thicket of legal minutia. Most importantly, the brutality of dog fighting comes through loud and clear.  Describing life from the point of view of a dog known only as “the brown dog” about her life on the Vick compound, Gorant writes:

She is not alone. Other dogs are spread around this clearing in the trees. They can see one another, hear one another bark and whine and growl, but they can’t get to one another. They can’t run, they can’t play, they can’t anything. They can get close to their immediate neighbors, stand almost face-to-face, but they never touch, a planned positioning meant to frustrate and enrage them. For some it does; for many it simply makes them sad.

Ray, one of the Vicktory Dogs. Courtesy Best Friends.

Of course, the Vick case involved much more than just the investigation and conviction, and Gorant soon moves on to what many people consider the most important and moving part of the story – what would be the fate of the dogs? As canine experts were brought in from organizations all over the country, expectations ran low, with everyone agreeing that saving 10 percent of the 49 pit bulls would be an achievement. It was the public, not the majority of experts, who demanded that the dogs be evaluated, as the common wisdom held that dogs rescued from fighting operations are too aggressive to ever lead normal lives. In the end, the dogs triumphed. Out of the 49, only 2 had to be euthanized (one because of severe aggression and one because of illness). The rest went to sanctuaries and foster homes. And, in a groundbreaking legal development, Vick was ordered to provide funds to reimburse the groups that took the dogs, such as Best Friends and BAD RAP. The law recognized that these dogs were victims.

Finally, The Lost Dogs follows the progress of the dogs in their new sanctuary and foster homes. Most of the dogs profiled in the book were paralyzed by fear. Jonny Rotten needed painstaking lessons in negotiating a flight of stairs, and was so startled at unfamiliar noises that he reminded his caretakers of Scooby Doo seeing a ghost. Jasmine lived in terror, reluctant to leave her crate. Her foster mom, Catalina Stirling, one of the tireless human heroes of the book – which also features plenty of canine heroes – had to carry a stiff and trembling Jasmine into the yard and set her down so that she could relieve herself. Although Gorant can only profile a handful of the dogs in depth, he at least provides details of where all the dogs are now. It is impossible not to be inspired by their resilience after having faced nothing but cruelty and neglect for the majority of their lives.

Lucus, one of the Vicktory Dogs. Courtesy Best Friends.

The Michael Vick case was revolutionary not only for the tough prosecution of dog fighting, but for the use of procedures respecting the lives of the dogs taken from dog fighting rings. The work of some animal protection organizations to see the dogs as victims instead of accessories to a crime, set a new precedent for how fighting dogs are viewed. Because of the work done with the “Vicktory Dogs” (as the Vick dogs are now commonly referred to), fighting dogs are now often recognized as capable of rehabilitation. For those who are willing to hear its message, the Vick case – as clearly illustrated in The Lost Dogs – has also shown beyond doubt that pit bulls are not inherently aggressive, attack dogs.

One caveat. In his introduction, Gorant mentions that when he first wrote a Sports Illustrated story about the Vick dogs, he heard from many readers who thought it was ridiculous to spend so much effort on these dogs, when, after all, they are just animals, and we comfortably eat animals, and do all sorts of other exploitative things to them. Why so much effort on these dogs? For a moment, I thought Gorant might convey some insight into broader issues involving animals, but instead he merely defends the point of view that our relationship with dogs is different than our relationship with other animals.

That flaw aside, this is a valuable book for anyone who wants to know more about the world of dog fighting. Gorant not only gets into the mindset of the humans working on the case, but also the precious canines. He gives the reader the chance to think and feel like a dog who has gone from the Vick compound, to a not-so-pleasant municipal shelter, to a home with a foster parent or at a sanctuary. I would be lying if I said I didn’t shed a few tears on the subway while reading this book on my morning commute. I’m also somewhat partial to this story: Hanging on my wall, I have a black and white photo of one of Vick’s fighting dogs, Georgia, that was purchased on my trip to Best Friends Animal Society’s Utah sanctuary. Georgia inspires me every day.

If you’re at all interested in fighting for the underdog, The Lost Dogs will inspire you.

Read Jennifer Parrucci’s bio.

This review is also being published as part of the virtual book tour site, TLC Book Tours, which will feature various reviews of The Lost Dogs through October 25. Please note that Our Hen House received a copy of The Lost Dogs for free from TLC Book Tours and the book’s publisher. No goods or services were exchanges for this book.

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GIVEAWAY!

Win a free copy of The Lost Dogs by Jim Gorant! You must be a resident of the U.S. or Canada to be considered. To enter, email contest [at] ourhenhouse.org and note that you are entering the drawing to win a copy of The Lost Dogs. You must include your full name and full mailing address (no P.O. boxes) or your entry won’t be considered. Only one entry per household please. In order to be considered, you must enter no later than midnight EST on Tuesday, October 19, 2010. The winner will be contacted via email between October 20-27. The winner will be selected by a random drawing. Please note that the review copy of The Lost Dogs, as well as the giveaway copy, was provided for free by the publisher and TLC Book Tours. No goods or services were exchanged for the copies.

Photo at top of blog courtesy Jessica Mahady. The dog in the photo is Rose, the official dog resident of Our Hen House.