Lost Dogs (Michael Vick's Dogs)

Sigh. I’ve been skimming this book. Itz a good book.

Two quotes I hi-lited.

w
v
———————————
From “The Lost Dogs: Michael Vicks dogs and their tale of rescue and redemption”
by Jim Gorant.

“..and then there was one last body that stood out from the rest. It had signs of bruising on all four ankles and all along one side. Its skull was fractured in two places and it had four broken vertibrae. Brownie had said that all of the dogs that didn’t die from being hanged were drowned, except one.
As the dog lay on the ground fighting for air, Qaunnis Phillips grabbed its front legs and Michael Vick grabbed its hind legs. They swung the dog over their heads like a jump rope then slammed it to the ground.
The first impact didn’t kill it. So Phillips and Vick slammed it again. The two men kept at it,
alternating back and forth, pounding the creature against the ground until at last, the little red dog was dead.” Page 93

—-

“Vick was drawn to the fights, and by the time he was twelve or thirteen, he was an active participant….
………the metaphorical leap that seduces so many into the field of dog fighting was a short one for guys like Vick, Phillips and Taylor. They saw themselves in the dogs. In the exterior toughness and bravado, to a degree, but even more in the animals willingness to take on any challenge, to endure pain and injury, to never give up despite long odds and great difficulty. Viewed in such light the dogs are noble and heroic and that is how these men view their own struggle against the disadvantages they’ve had to contend with. Even more there is a certain godlike feeling that comes with knowing that these creatures of superior toughness and strength and will are a product of their own making. The dog men have bred and selected and trained these animals, perfect symbols of their own triumph.” Page 30