Stop And Smell The Daisies
I want to thank Shadow for barking to me about a former Michael Vick dog that has undergone an amazing transformation. It’s great to hear about the dogs that were rescued and rehabilitated, once again showing it’s about the owner not the breed.
Daisy Mae, formerly part of a dogfighting operation, is now a therapy dog in Santa Barbara making weekly rounds at Cottage Hospital’s pediatric ward and Villa Riviera retirement home. Gentle and affectionate, the three-year-old cuddles with the elderly and frail, and even allows small children to hold her tight when they are undergoing painful medical procedures.
Her owner Alison Hansen found her in a shelter affiliated with the BAD RAP organization, or Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls (badrap.org). The dog was extremely withdrawn and frightened, cowering against the wall.
“Something came over me. I vowed, ‘She can never have a bad day again,’” said Hansen, who admits to originally wanting an athletic dog that she could exercise with. “I had wanted a [Labrador] experience, but what I got was a little sack of potatoes.”
Read more about Daisy Mae’s turnaround and dogfighting on the Santa Barbara Independent. If you’re looking to learn more about the breed stop by the Pit Bull friendly site Bad Rap.
* Pics courtesy PAUL WELLMAN
This story is so great. There was a pitt bull in my CGC class with me and my whippet and she was the sweetest dog! She passed with flying colors and it took indy twice to pass the test (shh! don’t tell him I told you, he is very sensitive)! It is definately the owner and not the breed. Unfortunately some of the owners enjoy the fact that people are scared of their dog and continue to fuel the fire against pitt bulls.
In the capable hands of a caring person, ALL dogs can give their unconditional love. They should ALL be given their chance to shine.
Kudos to Alison & Daisy Mae!
Great story for the most part. My only problem is that so many of these articles on the Vick dogs are claiming the HSUS to be “pit bull experts”, when it couldn’t be farther from the truth, the HSUS strongly advocated and pushed for these dogs to be euthanized without even temperament testing. They even lied to the public stating that they were taking donations to help the Vick dogs, when in reality, they were trying to get them euthanized!The real good guys here are the people like Daisy Mae’s owner, Best Friends, a local shelter that volunteered to temperament-test the dogs, and all the rest of the people that have adopted and rehabilitated these ex-fighting and ex-bait dogs, giving them a second chance. I’d consider Best Friends much more “Pit Bull experts” than the Humane Society of the United States or PeTA, at least the BF Animal Sanctuary has had numerous years of hands-on experienc rescuing, training, and rehabilitating dogs of this breed.
Daisy is so beautiful!!!! Thank You to all who was involved in her rescue. Because of you a lot of lives are touched. And one amazing one saved.
After so many bad things that are happening this story makes my heart so happy. Thanks for having the faith Alison. Great job and I am sure all that read this will be very proud of you
What great work these people are doing, really made our.
Great story!! Pawsome… but now Vick is out of jail. Perhaps we can send stories to his handler since he wants to go back to the NFL.
Perhaps Mr. Vick can see what his cruel actions have turned out…. beautiful caring loving dogs!!
Vick may be going back to jail for pension fraud. Apparently he took money from the pension fund of his company to pay off his own debtors. Plus his bankrupty determination is based entirely on resuming his NFL career which seems highly unlikely. I can’t think of any team that would be willing to deal with the rath that would come down on them by pet owners and animal lovers.
I hate to see any breed discriminated against and I hope that some of these dogs will go out and be goodwill ambassadors for their breed. It’s so heartwarming to see that people are willing to give them a second chance!
We recently watched “Vicktory to the Underdog,” This is a documentary about some of the dogs rescued from Michael Vick. It’s sold by All or Nothing Pit Bull Rescue. It follows Brandon Bond, the dogs he rescued from the Vick property (Seven and Machiavelli). It also tells the story of another pit he rescued, Annie Oakely. He visits others who are involved in pit rescue and features them and their facilities, too.
My husband and I both cried our eyes out watching this film. I already knew the outcome of Seven’s story from the website but to see video and pictures of her and to hear them talk about her, knowing what would happen later just made it that much more emotional and heartwrenching.
This film is NOT for children at all…there is foul language. There are also a few scenes of dog fights and the damage caused to dogs who have been fought so those scenes are not for the squeamish (I had to look away). AGAIN…this film is for adults only. But the message it sends needs to be shared with the world. The horrors of dogfighting, the ability to rehab these dogs, the idiocy of BSL…it all needs to be brought out into the open and discussed.
I was deeply moved by this film and will be purchasing the extended version, soundtrack, t-shirts and whatever else I can to support their organization. My husband and I are going to do all we can to be advocates for pit bulls and are going to get more involved in fighting BSL and putting an end to dogfighting.
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
I’m a big rescue mixed breed dog and will always be grateful for a second chance. We need a lot of love but we will always have a place in our heart to help people. It just takes loving people to remind us.
Good work and a great story. >wag<