Her name is Squeaky, and for the first time in her life, she is getting a kind touch from a human.
To look at this dog, you would never know Squeaky was once a killer.
But the scars on her face, legs, and body tell her sad story. She was a fighter, trained to kill in the vicious dog fighting pits owned by disgraced NFL quarterback Michael Vick.
Squeaky is one of 47 pit bulls rescued from Vick’s property in 2007; they were relocated to Dogtown USA in Utah, where trainers try to rehabilitate the worst of the worst – dogs that have suffered such unspeakable cruelty they were thought to be lost causes.
But the trainers at Dogtown USA work every day and night to turn wild beasts back into loving family pets.
Vick’s dogs had scars that ran deeper than the puncture marks crisscrossing their faces. And it was no easy task, trying to get the dogs to be dogs again. They were traumatized from their days in the fighting pits.
Lance ran endlessly in circles. Shadow cowered in his pen. And some of the most unspeakable horrors were reserved for female dogs like Red. Someone cruelly filed down her teeth so that she could not harm male dogs during forced breeding.
But get this – Red, once a killer, began sleeping on her trainer’s chest every night. It is an incredible sight, and it gave her trainer hope that one day she will be able to live with a real family.
As for Squeaky, she had to be taught to walk on a leash.
Most of Vick’s dogs slept on beds for the first time in their lives, and were given their first toys to cuddle.
They were even exposed to child-sized dolls, the first step to see how they’d interact with a real child.
There is hope that the day will come when these terribly abused dogs can live with a family that will love them.
This story originally aired on February 5th, 2008.
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