Vick dogs find new lives in adoptive homes

Like many dogs introduced to new environments, Gracie was a bit hesitant when she arrived at Sharon Cornett's home in Chesterfield County.

From the sights, sounds and smells in the kitchen to the layouts of the various rooms, Gracie needed some time to find a comfort zone.

"She was a little bit shy," Cornett said. "But she quickly discovered that sitting on the sofa was her most favorite activity."

These days, Gracie clearly is comfortable with her home. She seems to relish her role as the official laid-back greeter when strangers visit, and if they spend some time being nice to her, it's only a matter of minutes before she snuggles up in their lap.

From Gracie's pleasant demeanor to her hot pink collar, there is no indication of her difficult past, one rooted in three words that make many dog lovers cringe:

Bad Newz Kennels.

Gracie was one of 51 dogs seized in April 2007 from the Surry County dogfighting operation owned and bankrolled by Michael Vick.

In the months that followed, Vick plummeted from grace, losing his job as a star NFL quarterback and being sentenced to federal prison.

The Bad Newz dogs, meantime, awaited their fate while housed in various shelters. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was among the groups calling for all the dogs to be written off as lost causes and euthanized.

But a judge instead ordered the dogs to be evaluated for rehabilitation potential and to be placed accordingly with various animal-care groups. Vick was directed to pay $928,000 to a trust fund set up to care for the animals.

. . .

Now, as Vick prepares for his July 20 release from federal custody, most of his former dogs already have accomplished what he seeks: a successful comeback.

Forty-seven of the dogs were saved.

Of those, 22 judged to be the most serious behavioral cases were sent to a 33,000-acre retreat in Utah run by Best Friends Animal Society, a group that agreed to keep the animals for the rest of their lives, if needed.

The other 25 were divided among various animal-rescue groups to be placed in temporary foster care until they could be adopted permanently. The bulk of those 25 went to California.

Gracie -- part of a group of four dogs allocated to the Richmond Animal League, of which Cornett is a board member -- is the only one of the Bad Newz dogs living in the Richmond area.

From all indications, Gracie was one of the lucky ones. She bears no scars that would indicate she was involved in fighting and, unlike some of the Vick dogs, her teeth neither have been filed down nor pulled.

Gracie, it seems, was used exclusively as a breeder and kept in a chain-link kennel away from the violent part of the Bad Newz operation.

Showing no signs of aggression and every indication that she was nothing more than a couch potato-in-waiting, Gracie was among the dogs judged ready to be placed in foster care for adoption.

Cornett, who took in Gracie in December 2007 from the Virginia Beach animal shelter, quickly noticed how well the 38-pound pit bull did in the house and got along with Cornett's two other dogs and several cats. It became obvious, Cornett said, that Gracie already was home.

So Cornett made it official. After a court-mandated waiting period, she adopted Gracie permanently.

"Probably one of the easiest dogs I've ever brought home," Cornett said, softly scratching Gracie's head. "Right, Goo Goo Dog?"

. . .

Gracie, believed to be 4 or 5 years old, seems especially fond of Petey, a male pit bull mix Cornett rescued from New Orleans after he spent two months marooned at a house after Hurricane Katrina. The two dogs constantly play with toys in their fenced-in backyard, and one never seems far from the other.

There are plenty of other success stories among the Bad Newz rescues, including at the Best Friends sanctuary, where it initially appeared that all 22 dogs might end up being permanent residents. Instead, almost the opposite is true.

One dog, Bonita, died after having a bad reaction to a drug used in a dental procedure. Another, Halle, already has advanced to foster care, and 18 of the remaining 20 appear to be on the same track.

Only two dogs, Meryl and Lucas, have been judged unsuitable for adoption consideration, but Best Friends officials say they are making progress with both.

"It's not outside the realm of possibility that Meryl and Lucas could get to the point where Best Friends could ask the court to revisit that decision," sanctuary spokesman John Polis said. "We see positive signs."

With most of Vick's fighting dogs, Best Friends behaviorists began therapy on the most basic level: by sleeping with individual dogs nightly to try to convince them they could trust humans.

From there, the Best Friends staff took it slowly, letting each dog set the pace.

"The overall outcome is just thrilling," said Best Friends veterinarian Frank McMillan, the sanctuary's director of well-being studies. "What we've learned is that we were right in the first place to give them a chance, because each one of them has blossomed in their own way."

McMillan was part of a team of four people from the sanctuary who flew to Virginia last November to evaluate the dogs.

"We went out there thinking we were going to see 22 Tasmanian devils," he said, chuckling as he added that what they found instead were 22 dogs that basically were just frightened.

"I remember we were getting ready to fly back and we just looked at each other and said there was not one of those dogs we would not adopt for our own," he said.

. . .

Like the staff at Best Friends, Cornett tried to avoid setting expectations for Gracie and instead let her find her own comfort zone. And like the staff at Best Friends, Cornett has been rewarded.

"Every day I look at her," Cornett said as she softly stroked Gracie, who was sleeping beside her on a couch, "and I think, 'If only you could talk.'"

Cornett paused when asked what she thought Gracie might tell her. "I think she'd say life here is pretty good."

With that, Gracie snapped awake, looked directly at Cornett for a few seconds and slowly lowered her head back down to the couch to resume her nap.

Contact Joe Macenka at (804) 649-6804 or .