Dogs Deserve Better. Founded in 2002 in Pennsylvania. "An award-winning nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing Man's Best Friend into the home and family." Sanctuary and home base now in Virginia. 1915 Moonlight Drive, Smithfield. Former property of Michael Vick.
Lots of skeptics when Tami Thayne began working on making her dream a reality — Dogs Deserve Better would raise the money to purchase former Michael Vick property. To honor those who died, their lives short jagged whispers of torture. To make a sanctuary for two-leggeds rescued from chains. Lots of naysayers as well. It was, after all, a place dark with history, dark with shadows. I imagined when I thought about her beginning days there that bundles of white sage for burning and cleansing might help. Wished I could take some time off, travel that way to bear witness. I imagined rain, lightening, thunderstorms. And the prayers. Always the prayers. And angels, so many angels. Who sent their love and support and their dollars. One by one. Five by five. Here's looking at you DDB. Honored to know you.
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"From what we at Best Friends know of the way Michael Vick has related to the animals he abused, the answer is clearly that he has “simply rediscovered the pocket.” Best Friends took 22 of Vick’s 48 seized dogs and the only contact we’ve received from Vick or his representatives was by way of some overtures from his agent, one of his attorneys and a PR firm specializing in reputation rehabilitation. They were interested in some public glad handing that would put Vick in a favorable light with the NFL, which at the time was still considering whether or not to reinstate him. We declined."
"Best Friends has never heard from Michael Vick or any of his representatives inquiring after the health or well being of any of the 22 dogs that we received from his fighting ring." Francis Battista
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Wednesday, October 14, 2009
BAD RAP Blog
Vick: Still not sorry (we checked)— Donna Reynolds
"This coming Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles will be landing in - gulp - our hometown to play the Oakland Raiders. What to do? In the spirit of moving forward, we decided to invite Michael Vick to meet his victims while he's here so he could look them in the eye and extend his apologies. Yeah we did. It was a tough situation to consider - but at some point we have to find some closure and move this man off of our emotional radar, right? It took five pins & needles days for him to say No. One can only imagine the back and forth between his handlers about that little decision."
"Here's the short version. And here's our news release in full:"
"Vick refuses to meet former Bad Newz Kennel dogs while in Oakland"
"Late last week, Oakland based pit bull advocacy group BAD RAP invited Michael Vick to view eight of his former Bad Newz Kennels dogs from behind a window while in town for the Raiders game on October 18, but the offer was refused. The invitation was extended to allow Vick an opportunity to acknowledge the victims of the crimes he committed while running a dogfighting operation that employed torture and death as a means to punish underperforming dogs. Vick has indicated remorse for disappointing his fans, his family, his teammates and his coach, but has steered clear of mentioning his victim dogs in public statements."
"BAD RAP Co-Founder, Tim Racer said: "Oakland is a town that welcomed Vick's broken dogs with open arms back in 2007. We understand Vick is trying to right his wrongs and is very interested in redemption, but you can't find redemption without acknowledging your victims. Making amends to the dogs themselves would have helped to create some closure for many of us, especially the people who worked so hard to keep them from being destroyed. It seems that Vick is not ready to go there."
"Pamela Browner-Crawley, public affairs director for the Philadelphia Eagles, relayed BAD RAP's offer to Vick. To satisfy the conditions of Vick's parole that bars him from being near animals, a location was identified that would allow him to view his former dogs from behind a window, at legal distance. On Wednesday, Crawley contacted BAD RAP to decline on behalf of Vick. Ignoring the fact that legalities would be followed, she explained, "Michael is not allowed to be around dogs by a court order, so logistically and legally, your plan can't work."
"We were fairly certain that he would decline our invitation, given his continued refusal to make mention of his dogs," said Racer. "The unfortunate thing is that his new position of compassion towards animals would be so much more credible if he could actually say that he looked his victims in the eye and said, "I'm sorry."
"So, who's surprised?"
"Actions speak louder" Sphere: Related Content
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