Vick's Dogs Go From Fight Ring to 'Love Time'|ABC 7 News

text size: A | A | A

Vick's Dogs Go From Fight Ring to 'Love Time'

posted 5:38 pm Sun January 27, 2008 -

tags: vick • dog • foster • fight

ABC 7 News - Vick's Dogs Go From Fight Ring to 'Love Time'

related stories:

His back resting comfortably against her chest, Hector nestles his massive canine head into Leslie Nuccio's shoulder, high-fiving pit bull paws against human hands. The 52-pound dog is social, people-focused, happy now, it seems, wearing a rhinestone collar in his new home in sunny California.

But as Hector sits up, deep scars stand out on his chest, and his eyes are imploring.

He is one of the dogs rescued from former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick's Bad Newz Kennels.

Authorities descending last year on Vick's home in Surry County, Virginia, found where the former NFL star and others staged pit bull fights in covered sheds, tested the animals' fighting prowess and destroyed and disposed of dogs that weren't good fighters.

Vick is serving a 23-month federal sentence after admitting that he bankrolled the dogfighting operation and helped kill six to eight dogs. Three co-defendants Purnell Peace, Quanis Phillips and Tony Taylor also pleaded guilty and were sentenced, and the four now face state animal cruelty charges.

Oscar Allen, who sold a champion pit bull to Vick's dogfighting operation, was sentenced Friday on a federal dogfighting charge.

Officers who carried out the raid found dogs, some injured and scarred, chained to buried car axles. Forensic experts discovered remains of dogs that had been shot with a .22 caliber pistol, electrocuted, drowned, hanged or slammed to the ground for lacking a desire to fight.

A bewildered Hector and more than 50 other American Pit Bull Terriers or pit bull mixes were gathered up and held as evidence before being spread to rescues and homes throughout the country.

You need to be a registered member of
ABC 7 News to leave comments on news stories.

Not a member yet? Click Here to sign up.

Please leave your comments below:

Messages that harass, abuse or threaten other members; have obscene or otherwise objectionable content; have spam, commercial or advertising content or inappropriate links may be removed and may result in the loss of your posting privileges. Please do not post any private information unless you want it to be available publicly. Never assume that you are completely anonymous and cannot be identified by your posts.

The 'RUNNING MAN' icon is a registered trademark of America Online, Inc.