Dogtown: Saving the Michael Vick Dogs

Cafe Society
#1

Was I the only one to watch this show?

A thread in The Pit rememinded me of it. I tried to search to see if there was already a thread but search is shot. Anyways. . .

I was shocked at the ‘rape chair’. And also that it seemed the two top fighters were female. Well, they’re not sure about that but, going by the scars that’s what the trainers seem to think.

I also think that the removal of Georgia’s teeth is the only thing saving her from Meryl’s fate of a lifetime at Dogtown. The conclusion that Cherry was a bait dog seems a bit off to me since he had no fear of dogs and, in fact loved other dogs. It was people who he cowered from.
What a tearjerker that show was.

#2

Vick’s actual top fighter is Lucas, who is also court ordered to stay at dogtown for life. Ironically, he’s the best socialized of all the vick dogs that are there, since he’s one of the few that has had positive experiences with people. A lot of them have basically had no socialization time with people at all. That whole deal with being terrified of leashes and/or going through doors is pretty common.

Fun tip, you can tell the status of the dogs there by their collars. Green collars are pretty much ok with everyone. Purple collars mean they are friendly but lack manners, they may jump and such and children should be around them. Red collars are possible biters and can only be handled by staff. As dogs are rehabilitated they can have their status changed as they improve.

edit: by “ok with everyone” etc. I mean wrt the volunteers there, of which there are tons.

#3

Where’d you get the inside info? I’d love to learn more about all the dogs. Have any been adopted yet? Nat Geo’s site has nothing new.

#4

I was bearing up stoically until they showed Cherry playing with his new dog friend at the end. What a transformation!

#5

I volunteered there for a couple weeks in july. As my family gives a fuckload of money to them in donations, we got to go in with the vick dogs. They’re all staff only at the moment(or rather, when I was there). As of then, none were being considered for adoption yet. A lot of these dogs have lived in cages without human contact for their whole lives, they’re going to take some work before their ready to go to a home.

This is the site for the animal sanctuary where dogtown is located. http://www.bestfriends.org/

#6

I’m sure I’ll regret answering this, but what the Zeus is a rape chair, in this context?

#7

Never mind the rape chair question; I googled it.

#8

Ah, the REAL inside dope!

#9

It was a great experience. I plan to do so again next summer.

#10

I tried Googling this but could not find anything saying what it was, just articles that Vick had one. What is it?:confused:

#11

Ditto.

#12

You would probably have more luck with the phrase “rape rack.” It is what it sounds like: a device that restrains an animal so it can be mated (or artificially inseminated, in some cases) against its will.

#13

Does the term “against its will” have any particular meaning when speaking of dogs?

#14

Considering that one of the dogs, Georgia, had all of her teeth removed so that she could be bred, I’d say that’s pretty much against her will.

#15

The dogs are too ferocious. Just because the female is in heat doesn’t mean she will stay quiet and the male will just mate with her (without ripping each other apart in the process). Believe it or not, animal reproduction sometimes is not as easy as “insert tab into slot”.

The rape rack holds the female so that she cannot attack the male. And I’m guessing that people are watching so that the male does not harm the female. Vick was not the only one who used them, apparently other people (and other breeds) use them. Why would they want to breed animals that require a rape rack in order to mate, I don’t understand.

And that is one of the reasons I didn’t take the Theriogenology rotation while I was in vet school.