All language subtitles for CHAMPIONS, THE (2015)

Come on Littles, let's put your coat on.

It's cold out there.

Let's cover up your little ears.

Okay baby, let's go.

To me, she is Little.

That's the nickname that I call her.

Come on, Little.

There you go, baby.

Off we go.

I love it.

I would never change it. Never.

Just the word little connotes
something that's not scary.

It connotes a puppy or a baby,
or you know, a tiny lap dog.

So for Little, I think it has demystified

some of the pit bull
mystique of the tenacious dog

that latches onto
something and never lets go.

Stay, Littles.

Her body has scars all over it.

Most people don't see that though,

especially if she has on one of her coats.

They just think she's an old little dog.

And for a lot of people,
that's as far as I want to take it.

You know, there are a lot of people

that I wouldn't tell about her history

because they might see her
and they would have no idea.

Sometimes I just don't
want her to have that

negative attention.

I don't know how she
survived or why she survived,

but she did.

NFL, sack Vick!

NFL, sack Vick!

NFL, sack Vick!

NFL, sack Vick!

NFL Star Michael Vick

has agreed to plead guilty
to federal dogfighting charges

in a deal that could spell
the end of his NFL career.

I take full responsibility
for my actions.

Dogfighting is a terrible
thing and I didn't reject it.

Investigators
say some of the losing dogs

died in the pit or were later
put to death by drowning,

hanging, or electrocution.

In several
searches of Vick's property,

authorities have recovered
more than 50 pit bulls.

They've also discovered
the graves of seven pit bulls.

Officers found treadmills,

whips, chains, injectable drugs,

one of the biggest and most
elaborate dogfighting compounds

they've ever seen.

PETA
says there's no choice

but to destroy 53 of the 66 dogs

taken from Michael Vick's
home now in federal custody.

These dogs are deadly
machines to other animals.

They've been programmed to kill.

They can't even be housed in
the same kennel at the shelter.

We have absolutely no doubt

that the most humane option for them

is to be released from
the world that treated them

as if they were garbage from
the moment they were born.

So why is animal law important?

Normally, it's a death sentence

if a dog is seized from
dogfighting property.

This case was different,

because for years, animal
rescue and advocacy organizations

had been telling governmental authorities,

these dogs don't have to die.

One of the things that we have to deal with

as lawyers and lawyers-to-be,

is that we know that under the law,

animals are considered personal property.

Most of the time,

people don't even hear
about dogfighting cases.

Because of the status of
one defendant in particular,

the general public started
asking the government,

why do you have to kill these dogs?

The judge in this case said
that he had gotten 3000 emails

about this case.

His administrative assistant
was taking 200 calls a day.

The title I was given by the court

was guardian backslash special master.

The federal courts
have the ability to appoint

a special master to make
recommendations to the court.

I thought it was a great
idea to put guardian in the title

because we often think of guardians

as guardians for children

or guardians for people
who don't have capacity

to make decisions on their own.

No matter what decisions I made,

I knew there'd be criticism.

If all the dogs could be saved,

there'd be people saying I shouldn't have.

If I had to recommend
euthanization of any dogs,

I know that I would've
gotten criticism for that as well.

Two dogs exhibited behavior
or we had known history

that was of public safety concern.

The first dog, Meryl, had
shown reactivity to people.

The second dog, Lucas,

had a known history of being
a grand champion fighter.

The decision with Meryl and Lucas

was whether they would either be euthanized

or whether they'd be at sanctuary for life.

There was a substantial number of dogs

ready for a foster care environment.

Then there were dogs that
would not walk through doors

because they would pancake,

they'd essentially put themselves

as low to the ground as possible,

they may have some fear issues,

but certainly were dogs that weren't ready

to necessarily go out into
the wide world right away.

The dogs that were dog reactive,

I knew might be more likely to
be in a sanctuary environment

for life.

We didn't know whether I would
have to make a recommendation

to euthanize dogs,

because we did not know
whether rescue organizations

would step up and offer to take the dogs.

For some rescue organizations,

the goal is to bring a dog in,

provide the dog the
necessary support and training,

and get the dog out to
an appropriate placement

so they can bring another dog in.

BADRAP is in the Oakland Hills.

It's a small rescue facility,

and we have a half-acre
dedicated to the dogs.

This has become a halfway house

where the dogs can come and decompress.

Some of them come from cruelty cases,

for example, dogfighting cases.

It's a peaceful place, quiet, sunlight.

It offers them the
opportunity to finally rest.

Many of them have never had the opportunity

to enjoy being a dog.

Our hope was to help
people fall in love with the dogs

that we were falling in love with.

The dogs that we were falling
in love with had big fat heads

and big huge smiles and short hair,

and many people call them pit bulls.

They have different looks, different sizes.

The one thing they have in common

is there is a lot of
stigma attached to them,

but those of us that love them

find them to be quite
wonderful as family companions.

Good. Down.

Good.

Good girl.

The Vick case came out in the news,

and the first thing that
crossed my mind was

they're gonna kill all the dogs.

Good girl.

And we thought, my god,
we can't let this happen.

Come on, baby girl.

BADRAP and the
ASPCA had done their evaluations

of the dogs.

Come on, let's go, come on.

There were 13 dogs that
needed to be transported

from Virginia to the West Coast.

Dogs have always been treated as evidence

in these situations,

but they're live evidence,

you know, they can't be warehoused.

We researched a few plans

about how we might get the dogs back

and we settled on renting an RV.

Nicole and Steve put
that cross-country RV

on their credit card
instead of our credit card,

'cause it would've
maxed us out at the time.

Yeah, we were down there.

Going to pick up some doggies.

But we knew we had to do it.

This case was so important.

It just had to be done.

We didn't know these dogs.

We didn't know how they would react

to being crated in the RV,

how they would react to each other.

We didn't know any of that.

I mean, the whole thing
was kind of an unknown.

There were two routes from
Virginia to the West Coast.

We ended up opting for
the more southern route

so we could avoid places that had laws

against pit bull type dogs.

We certainly didn't wanna
get stopped and questioned.

At a rest stop in Arkansas,

there was a gentleman who was
doing landscaping maintenance.

I'd seen him watching us
and he came over and he said,

you really need to get
out of here with the dogs.

10 miles down the road,
they'll take them from you.

So apparently, we were close to somewhere

that had breed-specific legislation

and pit bull type dogs
apparently were restricted

in some way or completely illegal.

So we finished what we were
doing and got back on the road.

One of our
travelers loves the sun.

We were thrilled, but we were exhausted.

We were ready to be home.

Tim and Donna had prepared their house

and made room for all the crates.

Each dog got out, got a quick walk,

and then into their living
room to await the next step.

It's just a crazy feeling to think,

my god, what are we doing?

We have Vick's dogs in our living room,

and they're evidence in a
federal dogfighting case,

and I can't even tell my
neighbors what's going on.

I really had no intention of
getting into pit bull rescue.

It was not in my life plan.

I'm an artist, you know, I want
to make beauty in the world.

And 15 years ago, this dog
came crashing into our world.

I met her at the Berkeley
Animal Care Services

and she was gonna be euthanized
because they were very full.

And I took one look
at her and I felt uneasy

because I didn't understand
this pit bull mythology.

She wagged the tip of her tail very slowly

and gave me the sweet submissive gesture,

and I just felt sorry for her.

And so I said, we'll try to get her a home.

How hard can it be, right?

She's beautiful, she's young,

there's gotta be some sucker out there.

Trying to find her at
home was really a trick.

What we ended up doing

was hearing every myth and misconception

that people held about the breed.

And I started to get angry.

I thought, you know what?

This is a lovely animal

and you're telling me
terrible things about her

and you know, it's not true.

As time went on, we recognize
there was a huge need

for helping people
overcome the misconceptions

that were condemning
dogs like her to death.

I fell in love with her.

She asked me to step outside of myself

and to be more compassionate.

I'm gonna tear up because
I hate that I was never,

I was, there was a point in my life

when I wasn't compassionate
towards these animals,

and she asked me to be
honest with who she was.

And so she changed me.

That's a good girl.

Okay.

After about six
months, we said, that's it.

We're gonna keep this one,

A, because we can't find her at home,

and B, we have fallen
in love with this creature

and she has changed our life.

And we said, okay,

lead the way, Sally.

You can lead the way.

She completely changed my career path

by being the inspiration
for my first carving.

When people typically
think of a carousel animal,

they think of a horse.

Sally's built like a horse.

She's just this gorgeous little beast.

BADRAP is my seven day a week job,

and then the carving is
whenever I can fit it in.

It's easy to forget about all the problems

and all the crap going on in the world

if I'm tooling away at a dog head.

It all goes away.

That these dogs

from Michael Vick's Bad Newz Kennelz

could be rescued and become
some family's devoted pet

represents a dramatic
change in dogfighting cases.

It's the first time federal authorities

have allowed a full-scale
rescue effort of fighting dogs.

Normally these dogs are put to death.

Jonny seems
like a lover, not a fighter.

He's super cute.

So I'm sure with being on the program

and everything tonight,

your phone's gonna be ringing off the hook.

Jonny was one of the
more well-adjusted dogs

coming out of the case.

He was kind of naughty.

He was full of himself.

He had caveman manners.

I mean, he had no manners.

He was a little bit of a handful.

We had to look at the foster
homes that were available

to see what we thought they could handle.

And somehow it all came together.

Some really great
people raised their hands.

Where are we going, Jonny?

I met Jonny one day after he got here

from a road trip from Virginia.

We go to the park?

I had an opening in the house here

because we only foster one at a time.

What I liked about Cris is
he has a real sense of humor

and I thought, well,

this little Jonny dog
can be a little bit naughty,

and I bet Cris,

you're gonna enjoy that and
you're gonna have fun with that,

it's not gonna frustrate you.

Oh, that's has a good boy.

Give me a kiss. More kiss.

Yes, you're a good boy.

I was asked a couple of
months prior to hold the spot.

I wasn't told why, but I
was just told to hold the spot.

And then about a week out,

is when I found out that
these dogs were coming here

and that spot was being
held for one of them.

So I had no idea what was coming our way.

Was I gonna get a scarred up old dog?

Was I gonna get a dog
that looked like somebody

from the World Wrestling
Association that you see on TV?

You have pictures in your
mind and you're thinking,

I'm gonna get Lou Ferigno
looking dog here and hmm.

You meet Jonny and he's this little squirt

that looks like a cow
and you're like, really?

I mean, completely opposite
of what you would think.

Here you go, buddy.

He's just so cute in a funky little way.

I mean, he is a funky little dog.

He really is.

Can you sit?

Thank you. Good boy.

Every foster takes a lot of time

and every foster's a challenge.

We had no plan on keeping them.

We were just going to give him

the best possible skills we
could to help him along his way.

He was a bit scrambled.

We don't know what he experienced,

but I did know for a fact how
much stress he was suffering.

You could see it.

It was obvious.

Running water, of course,
sent him scrambling.

I have no idea,

but maybe he'd never
encountered running water.

Pots and pan, the garbage truck, stairs.

He had his little demons.

The first day Jonny and I took a walk,

he didn't know whether to go
left, right, forward, backward.

He just tied me up in the leash.

I've been attached to
a lot of fosters before,

but I let them go,

because there was always the next one

that needed a foster home.

It's pretty hard to give
all of this of yourself

to a little animal and hand them off.

I mean, that's pretty tough.

It was my time to keep
one and it was Jonny.

And he was gonna stay.

Good boy.

Some of these dogs were not ready to go

into a foster-home based environment.

So the day I received the
Best Friends application

was a great day,

because I knew I was probably

going to be able to make a recommendation

that would save all or
almost all of these dogs.

There's very few
organizations in the country

that have been established

as long as Best Friends Animal Society

that have the physical capacity

that best Friends Animal Society has.

The support from the public
from an economic standpoint

that Best Friends Animal Society has,

and the expertise to take
on dogs with special needs.

Good boy, Balty.

But even Best Friends
had to really put forward

a significant amount of effort
to take on 22 dogs at once.

For any organization,

bringing on that many
dogs is a big commitment.

The traditional historic
relationship to dogs

in fight busts

was simply to regard them as
damaged goods and to kill them.

This is something that we had to do.

What's up little Mel man?

It was the right thing to do.

When you look at it

from the point of view of
the needs of the animals,

we were the only ones who
could care for these animals.

We'd been advocating for their survival.

We'd been advocating for
them to be given a chance.

If we are advocates for their lives

and advocates for them to be given a chance

and to be related to as individuals,

how could we not step forward
and give them that chance

if we were the only ones who could?

Come on, Handsome.

Come on, Handsome man.

This is the type of dog

Best Friends Animal
Society takes on all the time.

They really do take on the hardest cases.

Based on the assessments,

Best Friends took the 22 dogs
that had the most challenges.

We ended up taking the
dogs that needed us the most.

When the dogs first
arrived, it was a little chaotic.

Probably half of them
were just very shut down,

very nervous about everything.

They were unsure about us.

Some of the dogs were almost the opposite.

They were excited and nervous
and maybe a little anxious.

We were seeing who was
reactive towards other dogs

through the fences.

The best that we could hope for

was that we could show the general public

that you don't have
to be afraid of the dogs

just because of the
situation that they came from.

Best Friends is a national
animal welfare organization.

No kill has always been
our mission and our call,

to end shelter killing.

So a sanctuary, as we see it,

is intended for animals that
are not immediately available

or ready for adoption,

so that might need some
help or rehabilitation.

The animals that come
to Best Friends, if needed,

can stay here and have a quality life

for their entire lives,

but really our intention is
to find them good homes.

We started the sanctuary in 1984.

There were about 20 founders.

We were looking for a way
of life that was meaningful,

and kindness to animals
was a fundamental component

of where we were coming from.

We had been doing
animal rescue over the years

and it was always our
dream to have a sanctuary.

So I always had my eye out for somewhere

that we might be able to
do what we wanted to do.

I was traveling through this area,

driving up the canyon here,
I was absolutely blown away.

It's one of these locations
where you kind of have the sense

of the creation of the planet

and the place has that
level of primal-ness to it.

It's so monumental.

The landscape is so spectacular.

That just puts you in perspective
on who and what we are,

how integrated we are with it all,

but how infinitesimally small we are.

When we started, it was
just a few of us out here,

you know, shoveling sand literally.

I think we always had this idea that

we were gonna change the world.

We certainly felt that the
world needed changing

whether or not we were gonna
change it or not, I don't know.

We don't know what each
of the dogs went through

at Michael Vick's compound.

When Cherry first arrived,
he was really scared.

If you tried to put him on
a leash, he would pancake,

which is basically just
get as low as possible.

Cherry.

You could interpret it a couple of ways,

he's being somewhat
submissive trying to tell you,

hey, I'm not a threat to you,

trying to protect himself,

trying to make himself
really small so that, you know,

maybe you won't notice him as much.

Come on, Cherry.

It was kind of heartbreaking

because he just seems
so scared of everything.

Working with shy dogs
can take a lot of time.

We really have to figure out

how to help them change their perceptions.

They're afraid.

Their emotional response to
seeing a new person is fear.

It's okay, buddy.

Come here.

I would sit with him quietly,

just for him to realize it's okay,

we're just gonna be in
the same room together,

because that allows them
to start getting to know

that people are safe, they're
not gonna do scary things.

There was a day that we
were sitting in the run together.

Come on, Cherry.

And he finally made the
decision that it was okay.

He was going to come
over and sit next to me,

and it was okay for me to pet him.

That's huge when you're
working with a dog like Cherry.

He was able to make the decision on his own

and then he decided it
was okay to let me touch him

and that maybe it was
actually even kind of nice.

Hi.

It was a big moment for
him and a big moment for me.

Those are the moments
that it's like, oh my gosh,

I just wanna jump up and down for joy,

but, of course, that would scare him.

So, you know, I just
had to be excited inside

that he was actually
finally coming up to me.

Come on, Cherry, come on.

Once we got Cherry to the point

where he was asking
for a little bit of attention

and handling,

our job was to help
him go to that next step.

Come on, sweet man.

Come on, Cherry.

And start
taking him out of that space

that was comfortable for him.

You can do it. - Good boy!

But we knew
that it was gonna have to be

in baby steps.

Come on, Cherry, you can do it.

Yay!

Yay, good job!

Yay!

Just because they get comfortable there,

they don't know that
this new thing is safe.

They don't know that the trail is safe.

They don't know what a car is maybe,

so we just kind of had to
start from where he was at

and just hope.

Our hope was that he could
really come out of his shell

at least enough to function in
a regular home environment.

You're doing good, Cherry.

We knew that we would
essentially be responsible

for these dogs for the rest of their lives.

What a good girl you are.

Oh, you're a good girl.

But at the same time,

we wanted animals to be
given that second chance

when coming from a fighting background,

and the only way to do
that is to lead by example.

We weren't really sure how
long we would be taking care

of some of these guys

or how long it would take
to get them into homes.

Good girl.

Personally, I always try to
look at the positive aspects

of things,

but there is that lingering kind of doubt

in the back of your head
of, you know, is this possible?

Good girl, Mama.

Handsome Dan I think was named

because he was just so handsome.

He's definitely got that look to him.

He's kinda like that Brad
Pitt of dogs, you know?

It doesn't matter even if
he's having a bad hair day,

he's still just gorgeous.

He definitely fits the profile

that a lot of people would imagine

if they were imagining a pit
bull from a dogfighting ring.

His behavior though is completely opposite

for the most part.

Come say hi.

Come say hi, come here, bro.

That poor kid probably
had zero interactions

that were positive with any humans.

He would put himself into the corner

and literally push his face into the corner

so he was trying to disappear.

What are you doing, Handsome?

There's that old school misconception

of the dog will do what I tell them to do

because they're a dog and I'm a human.

Simply doesn't work that way.

They have to trust us
and we have to trust them.

Hi, buddy.

In the beginning, he wouldn't come near me,

he wouldn't look at me,

he wouldn't do anything.

He was literally so shy and shut down

that I felt bad even going into his run.

My new worst case scenario,

he would live at the sanctuary,

which in my opinion is not a bad thing.

He really liked it here.

Good boy, Handsome.

Look at you.

But obviously, best case scenario,

everybody goes into a great home

and has the love and
attention that they truly deserve.

Hi, Cherry.

Are we gonna go for a ride?

Huh?

You do kind of have to take a leap of faith

when working with dogs like Cherry

because you don't really know
how far you can help them get

and you do have to
pay really close attention

or you're gonna miss
those very subtle moments

when they've made progress.

Good job.

Most people look for
these big moments where,

wow, that was a breakthrough,

and you have to look for those little wow,

he took a couple of
extra steps with me today.

That's amazing.

As we were getting to
know the Michael Vick dogs,

we were noticing that a lot of the dogs

seemed really interested in the other dogs,

and we find that a lot with shy dogs.

They gravitate to other dogs.

They don't really gravitate to people.

They don't know how to
have a relationship with us yet.

With Cherry, he actually
seemed very interested

in meeting other dogs.

We decided to introduce him

to another one of the big dogs, Willy,

who seemed like he was
interested in meeting other dogs.

Oh, there's a tail wag.

Oh, good boy!

There's a tail wag.

When we went to introduce them,

Cherry wanted to sniff his ear.

Good boy, Cherry.

Oh, good boy.

That's okay.

I got him, I got him, I got
him, I got him, I got him.

Don't worry.

Luckily, no one was injured

and we had to rethink who we
were gonna introduce Cherry to.

I think that's probably enough for the day.

Cherry didn't seem like
he wanted to get in a fight

or lunge back at Willy,

so we still felt pretty good

that we could introduce him to other dogs.

And it gave us more
information about Willy.

It's all right.

One of the other dogs

that we thought might like
the company of other dogs

was Handsome Dan.

So we decided to introduce him to Cherry

and see what happened.

What do you think about that dog?

And they almost
immediately started playing.

Good boy, Cherry.

Good boy.

And really acting like a normal dog,

which was pretty incredible
because both were fearful.

Look at you.

He loved dogs.

He was very social.

Once we discovered that about him,

it helped us to give him more experiences

and give him a better quality of life.

He was so afraid of so many things

and here was something
that he really enjoyed

and it really opened up his world.

Cherry, Dan.

It was encouraging to see

a little bit of their potential.

Okay, come on.

To watch them
actually relax and have fun.

Play easy, Cherry.

I'm sure some people
thought we were crazy,

but if a dog can get
along well with other dogs,

it really increases their
chances of going home.

I think everybody
has their favorite breed,

but I think so many
people love the fat heads

because they're just this wonderful blend

of the active working
dog and the couch potato.

The best of both worlds.

The history of pit bulls
is the history of America.

They were brought over to
the United States from the UK,

along with people's prize possessions.

They showed up frequently in advertising.

The earliest advertisements
included illustrations

of pit bulls.

They showed up in Hollywood.

Canine society is all a-gog

and a-twitter this afternoon

as major cur of the doggy
curs entertains a tea.

The famous example being,

Little Rascals and Our Gang.

In the early 1900s, they
were considered the family dog.

They were the dogs that were very friendly

and would protect children
and kept around as family dogs.

The dogs that were
looked at as the bad dogs

through the years changed.

In the mid-1900s, we
had the German Shepherd,

but the German Shepherd

went through a complete
rehabilitation of image

when Rin-Tin-Tin became a hero dog.

Then it became the Doberman.

In spite of everything

to dislodge him, he'll
hang on like grim death.

Then it changed to the Rottweiler.

Then it became the pit bull.

When pit bulls bite,

they bite and they bite
and they continue to bite.

Part
macho status symbol,

part bodyguard, part weapon.

And when you are walking with a pit bull,

you know you're like a king.

Everybody gonna move out your way.

The media jumped on this pit bull thing

and unfortunately it's kind of stuck.

So they're looked at as
the bad dog of the day.

Obviously, many people embrace these dogs

as family companions.

There are also many people
who have exploited them,

hurt them, abused them.

As long as the dogs
are matched equal weight,

I can't see why there's
anything cruel about it.

Will this dog fight one day?

Probably will, yeah.

Some of the dog fighters
wanna say, oh, they love it.

Well, they've been manipulated into this.

If you don't cut it as a fighting dog,

then they'll kill you, so
it's a no-win situation.

In the last 150 years,

dog fighters have been trying to undo

tens of thousands of years
of Mother Nature saying,

no, these dogs are pack
animals that cooperate.

They'd rather do something different.

They'd rather chase a Frisbee.

They'd rather go for a walk or swim

than do what dog fighters made them do.

Dogs are so special,

because they are such
great companions really.

Hey, Pommy.

They're always happy to
see you when you come home,

no matter how bad you
feel or how good you feel.

They are not very demanding
in terms of their companionship.

And, you know, life just happens with dogs

and they go wherever they want

and they take you along with them.

I like the world of dogs.

It's an interesting place to be.

What do we see out there?

When Little Red first came to Best Friends,

I decided I would sponsor her

and when I sent in a check,
they sent me this picture.

Even though I had never met her in person,

I just felt like she needed somebody.

Little Red came with a
trainer from Best Friends

and the trainer stayed
with us for three days.

And on the last day
she left and drove away.

Little Red looked down the road

and I think for the first time,

understood that her
trainer was not coming back.

She spent over three years in sanctuary

and she had people who loved her,

and animals who provided
her with comfort and play.

And I think she liked her life there.

I didn't know how she would
come to accept this is her home.

Little would be too nervous
to come inside the house.

Come on, baby girl.

Let's go in.

She just couldn't make
the walk up the steps

and across the threshold.

Come on, sweet pea.

I would have to carry her into the house.

There she goes.

She didn't have a problem going out.

She had a problem coming in.

I had just finished reading a book

about the Vick case,

and one of the things that struck me

was the way that the out-sheds were set up.

This building was painted black

and all the windows were blacked out.

There was a set of steps that led up

and that's where the fighting pit was.

So I think that going up any steps

and crossing a strange
threshold was, for Little,

a reminder of being thrown into the pit.

Every day I would wonder, what should I do?

And at the end of the day,

I would always think to myself,

you should do nothing
and just give her more time.

There you go, good girl.

I have a vet who does acupuncture

and she comes to your house to do it.

Oh,
that feels good, doesn't it?

Little would sleep
curled up in a tight ball.

She would fold in on herself
as tight as she could get

and you could just tell

she'd carried a lot of stress in her body.

As the treatment went
on, Little started to unwind.

She was literally unspooling herself.

She actually seemed to lengthen.

It was, I think, the first time that

she had ever really fully
been able to relax in my home.

There was an application,
someone interested in Cherry,

and they wanted to know if
he was ready to be adopted.

So Paul and Melissa came out for a visit.

They brought their dog, Madison.

Hi, Cherry.

You just have to, at some point,

accept that this is where we're at

and this is who you are and that's okay.

Hi bud, how you doing?

And then from there, you
really have to look for that home

that is also going to accept
them for who they are.

When we first got there,

I ended up going in first to meet Cherry.

Here you go, buddy.

He was completely shut down.

Didn't want anything to do with me.

You're such a handsome little guy.

I guess the question for me was,

are they going to be okay

with giving Cherry the
time he needs to trust them,

and are they going to be patient enough

to give him enough time

so that they can actually
see who he really is?

That's a good boy.

All right buddy.

We'll let you relax a little bit.

We sat down with him and we just pet him.

We just let him know that we were safe,

we weren't gonna hurt him.

And I mean that lasted for three hours.

Paul and Melissa were amazing.

They sat in there for a really long time.

All he ever needed was a couch.

Just being quiet, letting him
get to know them a little bit.

We arranged for the transport

and it was really hard for me
to load him up to say goodbye.

Okay, we're gonna come up here.

Cherry, you're being ridiculous.

Hey, hey.

I was super happy for
him to get into a home,

but it meant I wasn't
gonna get to spend time

with him anymore.

Yup, you're okay.

That is the hard part of my job is that

I know I can't take them all home.

Okay.

And if I can't take them,

I don't want to hold them back from that.

Oh boy.

Nope, you have to stay in.

Oh no, kiddo.

Cherry, no.

You know, it was really bittersweet.

I just really had to say goodbye

and have a lot of faith
that Paul and Melissa

were gonna give him an incredible life.

The bill will be heard

in the House Health Committee.

We have leadership both in the Senate

and in the Speaker on the House side,

so there is a very strong
interest in animal issues.

This will get rid of
the stigma of dangerous

on all fight bust dogs
in the state of Delaware.

That's right.

There are 13 states that
deem victims of cruelty seized

in fight busts as dangerous or vicious.

And that basically means
that they aren't adopted out.

I am a lawyer and a lobbyist.

What I do is draft bills

to get rid of the stigma on fight bust dogs

or to get rid of breed discrimination.

Breed discriminatory laws and ordinances

really started taking hold in the '80s.

Across the country,

50 communities in 14 states
have attempted to ban pit bulls

or enact vicious dog laws.

Since
1982, at least a dozen people,

including seven children,
have been killed by pit bulls.

In the 250 some odd fatal
dog attacks from 2000 to 2009,

breed could only be
determined in 17% of the cases.

Most of the dogs were isolated,

they were abused or neglected,

some were starving.

A lot is in control of the owner.

Breed discrimination
actually is panic policy making.

Some officials will decide

that all the dogs of this breed are evil

and they need to be exterminated.

And so they will round
them up and kill them.

What Denver calls

the city animal shelter,

some pet lovers call death row.

Denver first banned pit bulls in 1989,

making Denver along
with Cincinnati and Miami,

one of three major cities
to prohibit the breed.

There are some bad dogs of any breed,

but there are a lot of
wonderful dogs of every breed

that can be wonderful pets.

There's so much breed discrimination

in the United States right now.

And in America,

every responsible citizen
should be allowed to own and love

any breed of dog they choose.

It's that simple.

Every kid grows up

dreaming of playing professional baseball.

Never thought in a million years

half the stuff that I've
accomplished that I would ever do,

but I've thrown a no-hitter
and a perfect game.

The 18th perfect game

in major league history,

27 batters, no hits, no walks, no errors.

It's kind of a joke between
a lot of baseball wives

that people often think our life

is rainbows and butterflies every day,

and my biggest worry is where
I'm gonna get my nails done.

And I'm not going to
deny that we've had perks.

But he's gone for 162 games this season

and then you add spring training to it,

it's very lonely and very hard.

We have three vizslas and one pit bull.

Slater is very laid back.

Everyone says he's the
laziest dog they've ever seen.

You'll usually find him out
in the sun lounging around.

For the stereotype
that pit bull dogs get,

he's completely opposite.

He's an awesome dog
and an awesome family dog.

I played for Chicago Whitesox for 11 years

and then I signed with Miami Marlins.

I was aware that Miami
had breed discriminatory laws.

It wasn't an option to do anything

but find a place that we could all go.

We were able to live luckily,
outside of Miami Dade.

It was about 40-minute commute.

We found a town
that allowed Slater to be there,

then it was an easy decision.

We went into the off-season obviously,

thinking that we were
gonna be with Miami again

the following year.

Got a call that I got traded

and I'm like, where are you trading me to?

And they said, Toronto.

Find the ball. Fetch it up.

At first our heads were spinning thinking,

a different country, what just happened?

We thought we were gonna be in Miami.

We had bought a house.

Where's the ball?

Get the ball.

It started resonating with
me that Toronto has a ban.

Slater.

And that's actually the
entire province of Ontario

that has the ban,

so there was no easy
solution or short commute.

We had several friends

that offered to keep Slater
for us during the season,

but when we adopted Slater
we made a commitment,

he was a part of our family

and you just don't leave a
part of your family behind.

We just had to sit down and
decide what we were gonna do,

and the ultimate decision
was for them to stay at home

with Slater.

We tried to go not more than two weeks,

whether they come up here to Toronto

or her and the kids
fly to a city on the road

wherever we're gonna be at.

I have a family, I have kids,

I have a wife, I have dogs
at home, that's who I am.

And when I come here
and sit in the apartment

just chilling out by myself,
it gets tougher every day.

What are you guys doing today?

Today, we're going to go

roller skating.

You are?

That sounds like a lot of fun.

It really bothers Mark a lot.

There's a lot of times that he'll call

and we're just eating dinner

and he's sad that he's there by himself.

We faced a lot of criticism
when we decided to speak out

and say that we were not
going to get rid of Slater,

we weren't going to leave
him, we were gonna stay apart.

Many people thought
that I'm choosing my dog

over what's best for my children

and them being with their father.

But we truly believe

that we're teaching our children compassion

and that animals are not a convenience.

When you adopt an
animal, it's for its entire life.

It's so hard when you
look at your dog every day

and you see how sweet they are

and you see how great
they're with your children

and everybody that comes in our house.

And you think someone is telling me no,

because they think that
this dog is a dangerous dog

and they've never met him.

That is nothing but
ignorance and discrimination

and it's nothing short of that.

Suspended NFL star, Michael Vick,

is out of prison.

The former quarterback
for the Atlanta Falcons

was let out of Leavenworth
before dawn Wednesday

to begin home confinement in Virginia.

Commissioner Roger Goodell

suspended Vick indefinitely
back in August of 2007.

He said he would review Vick's status

once the prison sentence was complete.

You're listening to Richard Hunter.

We're talking about the Michael Vick case.

Michael Vick

has been conditionally reinstated

by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

I don't like being lied
to like anybody else,

but we have to go forward.

We have to move forward.

The
former Atlanta Falcons quarterback

can immediately take part
in pre-season practices,

workouts and meetings,

if he can find a team that will sign him.

What I like best about
my work is talking to people.

I like communicating with them

and I like being able
to share my perspective

and information that I've gathered.

I covered the Michael
Vick story on my radio show

for the better part of two years.

It was amazing how much
people did not know about this case.

The media is partially to blame for that.

Anybody who would be
involved in this type of thing

is deplorable.

Anybody who would be
involved in this type of thing

is a liability to our society.

Did they talk about the dogfighting? Sure.

Did they talk about
his football career? Yes.

But did they talk about the USDA report

outlined by eyewitness accounts

when Michael Vick took his
children's dogs away from them

and threw them into the pit to kill them

and laughed as it happened?

No, most people don't know
he executed his family's pets

for his own amusement.

With the number of dogs involved,

with whole facilities built for it,

and then you put on top of it

that it is one of the most
well-known professional athletes

in the country,

after reading the entire USDA report,

I couldn't believe Michael Vick

ever had time to play football.

I can vividly remember,

show after show, day after day,

covering the horrific facts of this story.

I don't think I had ever had a
lower of opinion of humanity

than I did by that point.

Michael Vick has landed

with the Eagles.

Vick's agent, Joel Segal,
confirmed on Thursday

that a deal has been made.

I'm excited about the opportunity.

Our country is a country of second chances

and I paid my debt to society.

As I covered the story,

I began to wonder what
had happened to the dogs.

I had Michelle Besmehn from
Best Friends on my radio show

to give an update on
how the dogs were doing.

And at the end of the
interview, off the air, I said,

I would like to be considered

if any of these dogs ever do
come available for adoption.

Come on, Mel.

A number of months later
they contacted me and they said,

we think we have the first few dogs

potentially available for adoption.

When I went to Best
Friends sanctuary to get Mel,

I was not prepared for
how particularly healing

that was going to be for me as a person.

The first thing I was struck with

was I didn't even have to say Michael Vick.

I didn't even have to talk about that guy,

'cause nobody there cares about him.

Good job, Mel.

Put your silhouette over there.

When I first met Mel, he trembled.

It wasn't until we took our first car ride

later on that afternoon

that Mel really kind of
came out of his shell.

Mel loves car rides.

If you're going to say
it, you better spell it

unless you are intending to get in the car

and ride right then.

He seems to understand
that there is something magical

about being in the car where he feels safe.

There's a barrier,

even if it's just glass in between him

and whatever's on the
other side of the car door.

The first weeks and months
that Mel was in our home

were big revelations.

Any new situation he's in,

it's almost like you can see
the wheels turning in his mind,

you know, am I safe?

Is this okay?

I've never heard Mel bark.

The only way that I know Mel can speak

is sometimes when he's sleeping next to me,

he will dream and make
some noises in his sleep.

That's the only time
he's ever made a noise.

Otherwise, he's completely silent.

Good boy, Mel.

I had always had it in my mind

that I would like to have a
conversation with Michael Vick.

A couple years ago, I was living in Dallas,

and it came to my attention
that he was going to be making

a series of public appearances.

I had so much in my mind that was not said

by the rest of the media that I work in.

I went to the location where
he was presented a key

to the city of Dallas.

I would like to personally
present to Michael Vick

the key to the city of Dallas, Texas.

I had been given permission
by the organizers to be there

as an invited member of the media.

They said, stand right here.

He's gonna exit the stage.

He will walk by.

That is your opportunity to
ask him to speak with you.

Hey Mike, Richard Hunter,

1190 AM Radio, two questions.

Excuse me,
back up, back up, back up.

He saw the newspaper
article from the LA Times

that I was holding up,

the picture of Mel, the headline,

understanding that I was one of the people

that had adopted one of his dogs.

He looked me in the eye
and in that candid moment,

he was completely unprepared

for the fact that we would
be coming eye to eye.

Nothing there.

Two questions, Mike!

Nothing man, how many
times I'm gonna tell you?

I ask you one more time
get the fuck out of my face.

He continued
to walk right by me.

You said you're worried
about the dogs, Mike.

Now's your chance to talk.

We
don't care about the dogs.

A key to the city of Dallas
says that we're trusting you

with the security of the city.

It's a symbolic honor.

I responded to the City Council

that it was gonna cost a
fortune now to go around

and have all the locks changed,

because one of the members
of the Dallas City Council

had given our house
key to a convicted felon.

The man who confronted Michael Vick

after Vick got a key to the city of Dallas

was given his own special key.

Richard Hunter was honored over the weekend

with the Eastlake Pet
Orphanage's John Labella Award.

One fellow councilperson, Angela Hunt,

spoke out publicly about it

and much to her credit,
couple of weeks later,

surprised Mel with his own figurative key

to the city of Dallas that
was a giant dog biscuit

baked into the shape of a key.

We spent a lot of time asking
ourselves over and over again,

what the hell is wrong with people?

And tonight you guys have
given us a chance to see

what's right about people.

I really appreciate this.

Thank you.

Come on in, buddy.

Come on.

Come on, Mel.

Good boy.

Good boy, come on.

People say to me, why
do you hate Michael Vick?

Is this just a vendetta?

No, because he doesn't really understand

what I'm talking about.

That's the sadness of it.

Come on, Mel.

Let's go buddy.

The people I'm really talking to

are everybody else around him.

The society that's around him.

The NFL is a
business and I can guarantee you

that if the public made a big enough stink

with their dollars,

the outcome with Vick playing

would've been a whole lot different.

The problem
is if there's still a demand

to consume the Michael
Vick product from the fan.

There's often
times where I say on this show,

you know, athletes should
get a second chance,

but I guess without knowing
whether he is been rehabbed,

you know, know what I mean?

It kind of concerns me.

And I think because
people get so caught up

in the sports fandom,

they think that somehow
he's entitled to go back

and reclaim that NFL career.

Vick is back

with footwear manufacturer, Nike,

more than two years
after Nike cut its ties to Vick

due to his involvement
with the dogfighting ring.

Vick
has gone from NFL superstar,

to disgraced outcast,

to one of the highest
paid players in the league

worth $100 million.

As tough as it is for
me to talk about Vick,

it's something that's very
important for me to do.

There you go.

You're walking good today.

I like to point out to
anyone that wants to say

that it's time for Michael Vick

and all of us to just move on,

that Mel hasn't completely moved on yet.

Good job.

I wasn't there to protect Mel
when this happened to him,

but I'm here now,

and I have a platform to talk about it

and I'm going to continue to talk about it

for as long as Michael Vick

and I are both sharing space on the planet.

Good boy.

All right, it's exciting. - Hello.

Hi!

We never thought twice about

taking a dog from a fighting situation.

So good to finally meet you!

We had a lot of experience at the time

working with dogs from tough backgrounds.

And the amount of experience that we had

being around fearful dogs,

we really hadn't experienced
anything to that degree.

Hi, baby!

Handsome Dan was just so scared.

Hi. Hi. Hi.

He didn't need to trust us, you know?

And he was trying.

That was pretty amazing,

given how shut down and fearful he was.

I was definitely surprised to
see how quickly he warmed up

to Heather and Mark.

He's a really good dog.

It was just a really gratifying
feeling to see him say,

hey, you know,

these people are cool and I
wanna be part of your family.

We tend to sometimes
think that once an animal

gets placed into a home
that it's happily ever after.

In reality, it's just
another section of his life

and there is gonna be a lot of hurdles.

I'm gonna miss you, Dan.

It is just the start to another adventure.

When Dan first arrived,

he had never been in the home before.

That was a steep learning curve for him.

He had to be carried downstairs,

he had to be carried from room to room.

But that very quickly
progressed to feeling safe

in certain rooms of the home.

You know, a lot of stress for him

and our fearful dog will stay
fearful if never challenged.

So he did find the spaces
that he tried to isolate

and we would kind of close off those rooms

and just gently start to have
him integrate with the family.

In the house, there was a lot of things

that he had to get used to.

He was afraid of regular
noises that you never think,

why is he afraid of a dishwasher running?

Stupid us.

He's afraid of it because
he's never heard it before.

So it's terrifying to him to hear sounds

that he'd never heard.

I wasn't even able to read in bed,

which was something I enjoyed doing.

I would place him up in the bed

and he would get cozied in for the night,

but even the turning of newspaper pages

would just terrify him.

There were times when I wondered,

was pushing him gonna
do more harm than good?

And are we gonna have the strength

and the forethought to just say,

okay, we've pushed him far enough

and here's where he's going to be

and we'll just keep
him happy in that place.

Jonny's been my dog going on seven years.

He's a stellar little dog.

He really is.

He doesn't have bad days.

Jonny, come.

Pit bulls are definitely
clowns in little dog suits.

Are you ready?

Go get it!

Go bring that kong!

Come on, go find your kong.

They have a zest for life.

They enjoy fun and antics.

They're very animated dogs.

Good boy.

Once you can get the
cloud of stress off of them,

they start to show you who they are.

Good boy.

Sit up.

Okay.

And once you find out who this dog is,

what their personality traits are,

who they are, you can
kind of have fun with them.

Jonny has probably developed over 30 tricks

throughout the years
we've been working together.

Hi ho! Good boy.

He knows
everything from sit, rollover.

Right turn.

Jonny, left turn.

He can turn left.

He can turn right.

Sweet. Good boy.

If Jonny read and wrote English,

his head would be triple
the size of what it is now.

Who is this Donna?

This is Jonny Justice.

Jonny Justice I have such a crush on!

He's been on cover books and magazines.

Gund made a copy of Jonny

that you could actually buy in the stores.

I still find it humbling.

I mean, we're just regular folks with a dog

and crazy little background.

He's really a gentle little dog,

come on, buddy,

that is the happiest in
life when he's with people.

Okay, mister, come on.

We're gonna go to work.

Good boy.

Come on, buddy.

Jonny is a therapy dog.

The Family House is an organization

that works in conjunction
with the Children's Hospital,

and if you are outside of the area

and your child needs treatment,

they put the families up free.

Give them a place to stay.

So we go in there and
just kind of visit, have fun.

Oh, hey guys, how are you?

Hi, good, how are you?

Good, would
you like to meet Jonny?

Yes.

We are nothing but a giant distraction.

Therapy animals do many things,

but the governing thing is that

they all must be very stable,

highly trained animals.

Some dogs are good with adults,

some dogs are good with kids.

When you work with dogs,

you go with their strengths
and you support them.

And Jonny's just this little kid magnet.

He's just good with kids.

Everybody likes him, you know.

Hi.

We all know Jonny came out of Virginia.

So people from the South, of
course, are always NASCAR fans.

Jonny, start your engine.

Start it up.

Rev the engine, give
it gas, rev that engine.

That's kinda cool.

Stick them up.

Bang!

Okay, good boy.

Hey guys, how are you?

Here's the doggy!

You wanna meet Jonny?

If you've ever seen
somebody who isn't feeling well

and is in a strange place
away from their home

and you come in with a little dog

and it brightens their day,
gets them to smile and giggle.

Right turn.

It grounds you.

We're a team.

There is a camaraderie between us.

And it's a pretty special bond.

There it is.

Jonny brings a lot of
love and joy to our house.

Okay, go to your house, go on.

He's my dog.

Can't get between a boy and his dog.

Today, 9,000 animals are
dying in shelters every day.

That's about three and
a half, 4 million a year.

PETA said, nice families
don't go into shelters

looking for pit bulls.

Our experience has been that

nice families do go into
shelters looking for pit bulls.

We see them all the time

in our pet adoption centers in Los Angeles.

Most pit bull type dogs that
you encounter in a shelter

have never had anything
to do with dogfighting

or a dogfighting ring.

So many pit bulls and pit bull mixes

are dying in disproportionate
numbers in shelters

and it's really a tragedy.

It's unfortunate.

He's a big sweet dog

and they cut his ears
to make him look tough.

Public perception of
these dogs is often negative

and there's nothing
negative about these dogs.

You're a big mush, aren't you?

Yes, you are.

One of our initiatives

is aimed at redeeming
the image of pit bulls.

In recent years,

especially subsequent to
the work that's been done

by Best Friends and others,

there's really the nationwide groundswell

in support of pit bull type dogs.

So we're not alone on this.

Now the work is really
engaged with shelters

and rescue organizations around the country

to help perhaps change
some of the perceptions

about these dogs.

We say forward, left leg go forward.

Forward!

When I first met a pit bull, I said, ooh,

you know, I've been told
there's something wrong

with this animal.

Now see if you can
get a look from your dog.

Give them a look command
while we're moving and stop.

Good!

I didn't understand what it was,

but there was a lot of baggage
and mythology attached

and so I was skeptical.

What's going on with this animal?

Why is everybody so afraid of it?

There are numerous myths that abound

regarding pit bull terriers,

that they're not good with cats,

that they're bad with children,

that they have more pounds
per square inch of bite pressure

than any other dog,

that they don't feel pain.

One is that their jaws lock.

Physiologically, they are no different

than any other breed of dog.

In fact, American Pit Bull Terriers

test better than Golden
Retrievers and Border Collies

in some of the American
temperament testing studies.

Good.

Even animal welfare
people can fall for the myths.

If you have to euthanize
hundreds of pit bulls

in your shelter,

it's easier to believe

that there's something wrong with them

and to go home and sleep than to say,

well maybe some of them can be helped,

'cause then you have to
change everything you do.

There are a lot of
shelters that don't allow them

to be adopted out.

They just kill any dog
they automatically deem

as a pit bull terrier,
which is inherently unfair.

You make the victim the problem.

They come into somebody's home

that people don't do right by them.

The pit bull ends up
bearing the brunt of it,

ends up in the shelter and then,

oh gosh, well these
dogs are in the shelter,

they must be problematic.

It's ironic, but a specific
breed fills up the shelter

more than any other breed.

And they're the ones
getting the least help.

Well, they're just dogs and
we just treat them as dogs.

We're gonna be okay.

You're a good boy, bud.

We always thought it was
gonna be a lifelong journey

for Cherry,

but we also didn't think
he would come this far.

You're a good boy.

He really feels our
house is his safe place.

He loves to go out in the
backyard and sun himself.

He loves to run around, hop around,

chase Madison around the backyard.

He kind of enjoys just being
a normal dog back there,

I guess.

When we first adopted
Walker, he was a kitten,

and he spent probably the first
three weeks here soaking wet

because Cherry just
cleaned him all the time.

He was just so happy to
have this little kitten in his life.

And it really, for whatever
reason, boosted his confidence.

It really brought him out
of his shell even more.

It's almost like he adopted Walker.

He brought him in

and kind of showed him the
ropes a little bit, you know.

We had a baby 18 months ago.

Look.

Yay!

His name is Novelino.

Give that to Cherry.

Good boy.

Good job.

Cherry constantly licks him,

his face, his hands, his feet.

There's the cow.

And that started from when
we first brought Novi home.

Car says, beep, beep.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

It's just been wonderful to watch them

just having a great time
playing with each other.

Just like any other dog, we
take precautions as parents

to ensure that everybody is safe,

not just the baby, but the dogs too.

Babies like to grab and pull,

so we're always right there

to ensure safety on all accounts.

Prior to Novi,

we do not feed our dogs from the table

or give them table scraps.

This is where Novi I think is
a bad influence on the dogs

and vice versa.

You think this is funny, huh?

Through Novi,
the dogs have learned

that he can be a good
source of handouts of free food.

And Novi also learned that,

hey, it's fun to feed these guys.

He'll throw food down when
he gets tired of something,

he likes to feed the dogs.

Are you all done?

When they hear all
done, they come running.

It's like a call for them that,

hey, here comes the food, let's get there.

And they come sprinting as fast as they can

so they have first dibs on the good stuff.

Most of the time, Cherry is normal,

and that was really all we wanted for him.

We wanted him to be
comfortable in his house.

We wanted him to greet people at the door.

We wanted him to run around the backyard.

The dogs were given a second chance.

All of the dogs, not just Cherry,

have taken this opportunity
to really show the world

that why shouldn't we have the chance?

We're no different than any other dog.

And Cherry has really become
this heartbeat of our family.

He's just such an amazing soul.

He's just the easiest going
guy who just wants to be loved,

and he didn't want any
bad to come out of him.

It breaks my heart to think
that somebody would hurt him

because he's so innocent
and he's such a great dog.

I just can't imagine
our family without him.

There's so many days where you come home

from a long day at work,

and he's there greeting
you with a big smile.

You just start thinking to
yourself what he went through

and he can put a smile on
his face and it's, you know,

it makes your bad day just melt away.

It's kind of hard to even compare.

Duck.

A duck, that's right.

Good job.

He has had a dramatic impact on our lives.

It's just been an
amazing experience with him.

He lived in the toy cupboard
or on the nursery floor,

and no one thought very much about him.

After having him in our
home for as long as we have,

Dan's normal is not the same normal

as it is for the average dog.

Dan is never a dog that's
going to be able to go on walks.

He's way too fearful for that.

He's fearful of noises
outside of our fence,

the leash itself,

but in the safety of our fence,
Dan has found his normal.

It's about the security that
having a barrier provides.

So Dan gets nervous
when you take him outside

because imagine if you spent
the beginning part of your life

having no security,

what that's gonna do to your state of mind,

it must be awful.

Want to get dressed?

Come on.

Oh!

Oh, yes, oh!

And even the jackets,

a fearful dog those jackets
it makes them feel like

they've got something around them

and it gives them more
confidence because of it.

Get the rest of your stuff.

People may think, oh, that's silly,

you're putting clothes on your dog,

but it's like a baby that
needs to be swaddled.

They want that security.

How about this hat?

That's fancy.

Oh yeah, that one.

Is Dan gonna
help dress the baby?

Yup.

Aww.

Ask him if that's the right one.

Is that the right one?

Dan is
scared of lots of things,

but if Josephine does those things,

he's not afraid of them.

It's kind of that buffer that he needs.

Heather babies Dan quite a bit.

He's also got his very own special

what she calls the pope-mobile,

which like really we're gonna
buy this weird contraption

that has three wheels.

It's basically like a stroller for a dog.

But it allows us to go places with Dan.

And once you get beyond the fact

that it looks a little silly,
he loves it, you know.

He can be in it and he's in
an enclosed environment,

so he's happy.

He can go for a walk in the pope-mobile.

The pope-mobile.

It takes time and patience, you know,

and a lot of love and that's,

I feel like what Dan's got here,

but he's given us so much more back

that it's been worth every second of it.

Come on, Bub.

Yeah, there you go.

The peninsula is a little
place at a park near our house

that I've been working on
with Dan for a few years.

It's a small wooded trail
with water on either side.

He'll walk out with me

and we'll sit there for a
few minutes at the end

and then walk back.

Everyone has a dog or a
cat or an animal in their lives

that they know will be the one for them.

Dan is my one.

And the trust that Dan has given me

is not something that I would've
ever expected from a dog

like Dan.

They have been so much
more forgiving of our species

than we could have ever been of theirs.

It's amazing to see.

Not all the dogs
rescued from Michael Vick

are in adoptive homes.

Seven of the dogs are
still here at the sanctuary.

We're talking about 22
dogs from a very specific

and particular and extraordinary situation,

but they are individuals

and they should be treated as individuals.

Three of the
dogs are still too fearful

of new places and people
to go home at this point,

but that may change.

We're still working to help
them overcome those fears.

Some dogs of that
group are very dog aggressive.

They're in special care here

and it's unlikely that they're
ever gonna be adoptable.

Both Tug and Willy don't like other dogs.

They can't really interact with them.

Dogs really know the difference

between other dogs and people.

A dog can have a great
relationship with a person

and not enjoy the company of other dogs.

Willy not only doesn't wanna
interact with other dogs,

come here, sweetie,

but he tends to be really
selective about the people

he wants to be around.

He seems to do best when we limit

how many people interact with him.

Good boy.

We knew that
we weren't going to be able to

totally transform all of them,

and they will have good lives

and they're enriched by caregivers

and by animals here at the sanctuary.

You want your ball?

Is that a yes?

Denzel has been through
a lot of trauma in his life,

and sometimes it's hard
for him to trust people.

Get it, Denzel.

But when he finally breaks
through that barrier of trust

and likes a person, it's for life.

I love you, Denzel.

Who's the best dog in the world?

Sadly, a couple of the
have dogs had passed away.

Lucas was Michael Vick's champion

and was ordered by the
court not to be adopted

because he had street value

because of his championship lineage.

The thing about fighting dogs is that

the fighters use their affection,

their loyalty, their devotion to people,

to get them to do whatever
they want them to do.

They're fighting for that person,

they're fighting for that relationship,

and that's what showed through in Lucas,

this tremendous loyalty,
love, affection, sweetness.

He was an unbelievably sweet dog.

This scarred face just made
it all more poignant and sad

like an old boxer.

Meryl was the one that we
actually saw something from.

She didn't bite anybody,
but she made the effort,

at least it showed us
that she had that in her

if she was put under any
kind of threatening situations.

Meryl was
court ordered to stay here

for the rest of her life,
so she'll be here forever.

Come on, come on.

Good girl.

She has an awesome life.

She's a joy to come into every day

because she has the best
smile and she's always happy

and she's always ready to love on you.

We actually sometimes call her Mama Meryl

because she teaches other
dogs appropriate dog behavior.

She's just an absolute love
and pleasure to be around

every day.

Come on, Denzel.

For the most part, they were frightened,

they were unsocialized.

They needed help and they needed training,

but they were so responsive
to the kindness and care

and love and affection that
they came out of this as heroes.

Yeah.

Oh, I know, I know.

I've had Little for two
and a half years now.

Little enjoys her life very much.

She has a companion in Jewels,

another pit bull that I adopted.

And they love to play.

Little is shy and she's
nervous about people

until she understands
that they won't hurt her.

Jewels thinks no one will ever hurt her.

She's just a sunny, sunny dog,

and it's been really good for Little.

It's helped Little to be more
unguarded with her affection.

Little has overcome so many of her fears.

Come on, Littles.

Let's go, babies.

She was terrified to walk through the door.

Now she does it effortlessly.

Come on, Cheeto, let's go in!

She knows that she's not going somewhere

where she will be hurt.

It's a safe place.

The common kind of parlance of people

who talk about fight dogs is,

well, you can never
really rehabilitate them.

Yeah, you're just shining.

You're just shining.

She did not have to be rehabilitated.

She needed to recover.

Yeah, my sweet pea, my little sweet pea.

The Michael Vick dogs changed forever

the way people regard
dogs taken from fight rings.

Now rather than it being standard procedure

for these animals simply to be killed,

these dogs really broke ground

and really they are the
champions of this whole story.

And their legacy is that
animals are individuals,

dogs are individuals.

These dogs should be treated as individuals

and given a chance.

It would've been nice if it never happened,

but it did happen.

How are you doing, sweetheart?

And these dogs

have been such tremendous
ambassadors for their breed.

We've been talking with John Garcia.

He's an amazing dog trainer

from Best Friends Animal Society.

A few years after this case,

there was a large multi-state dog bust.

Eight states, 29 crime scenes.

Unlike previous busts,

because of what happened
in the Michael Vick case,

not all of them, but some
of them were able to go out

to rescue organizations.

In April 2008,

the Humane Society of the United States

changed their policies
on the treatment of dogs

on fighting property.

Now, the Humane
Society of the United States

is a rescue partner of ours.

You wanna sit?

Good girl.

They just delivered seven dogs

from a huge dogfighting
case, which was wonderful.

PETA to this day is staying the course.

They still believe all those
dogs should have been destroyed

and all future ones should be destroyed.

They've been programmed
to kill other animals, period.

They can't even be housed in
the same kennel at the shelter.

You know, people want to say,

oh, these are fighting dogs.

And I want to say, no,
these are family dogs.

Just because somebody else
wanted to do a despicable thing

with these animals does
not make them a fighting dog.

And when you give them food, water, right,

shelter, basic training
like any dog should have,

then there you got a family dog.

Our adopters don't call
them the Vick dogs anymore.

For Jonny now, he's Cris' dog.

He's their family dog.

Jonny is just a funny, lovable little guy.

He is what he was meant to be

when he was born into the world as a pup.

They I think taught us even
more than we thought we knew.

They said, come on, let's get on with life.

We can do this.

For a large percentage
of the dogs in this case,

they actually are more
than just family members.

They are therapy dogs.

They are agility dogs.

They're essentially doing
more than the average dog

and society does.

Working with Cherry
and the other Vick dogs

reminded me why I do this kind of work.

Sometimes it is really challenging.

Sometimes it's overwhelming.

It wasn't easy, I mean, we
worked around the clock.

Oh, are you giving me a grin?

What a good girl.

It could be stressful at times.

It can be heartbreaking at times.

But it's so worth it.

It matters. It matters to that dog.

And it matters to other dogs.

I didn't realize how big
of an impact it would be

on so many people and other animals.

When we started the sanctuary,

our vision of things, our aspirations,

our North Star was kindness,

kindness to animals,
kindness to each other.

There's an artificial distance
put between ourselves

and the animals.

We pride ourselves and
give ourselves a special place

because we make all of these things

and we talk and we write
and all that sort of stuff.

But when you get to know the animals,

you see the richness of their lives,

the depth of their feeling
and their intelligence,

the grounding that they provide for us,

the link that they give us to nature.

It's not that they are distant at all.

These are our brother and sister creatures.

The lives of all of these
animals have intrinsic value.

They're not ours to
dispose of or to discard.

There is no small
life or insignificant life

that doesn't matter.

If Best Friends stands for anything,

it's a testament to following that dream

and doing what you know
to be the right thing to do.

You know, you may not change the world,

but you'll certainly
have a good time trying.

Michael Vick tried to
make these dogs mean

and particularly Little Red,
and he was not successful.

She's never been a mean dog.

She's a dog who was traumatized.

There's nothing in the world that she did

to deserve the cruel treatment she had.

I've seen the adjustment she's made

and it's taken her time,

but she deserved that time.

Sometimes, I see when she's
sleeping that she's dreaming,

and her dreams aren't always good dreams.

There are times when I
can tell she's distressed.

And when that happens,

I wake her up and
bring her back to reality.

Just reassure her that she's safe,

that she never has to be afraid again.

No one will ever, ever
hurt this dog ever again.

And I think she believes that now.

I want her to have the best life possible.

I want her days to be filled

with the things that make her happy.

And I think that they are.

She loves her home.

She loves her life.

Let's go, Littles!

This is where she was meant to be.

She knows that she's home.

♪ You could say it's my instinct ♪

♪ Yes I still have one ♪

♪ There's no time to second guess it ♪

♪ Yes there are things
that I'm still so afraid of ♪

♪ But my courage is roaring
like the sound of the sun ♪

♪ 'Cause it's vain about its mane ♪

♪ And will reveal ♪

♪ I'm an animal ♪

♪ You're an animal too ♪

♪ Pick up that rock ♪

♪ That mane ♪

♪ I do my best ♪

♪ But I made a mistake ♪

♪ Yes there are things
I'm still quite sure of ♪

♪ I love you this hour ♪

♪ This hour today ♪

♪ And heaven will smell like the airport ♪

♪ But I may never get that proven ♪

♪ So let's not waste our time ♪

♪ Thinking how that ain't fair ♪

♪ I'm an animal ♪

♪ You're an animal too ♪

♪ You're an animal too ♪