Inside Edition tracked down two of them.
Whatever happened to the dogs from Michael Vick's fighting ring?
After the NFL star was busted in a dog-fighting ring, authorities rescued dozens of animals from his Bad Newz Kennels in Virginia in 2007.
Jonny Justice was one of those dogs. He was adopted by San Francisco resident Jennifer Long, who soon discovered that far from being a bloodthirsty killer, Jonny actually loved being petted by youngsters.
"There was a group of little kids outside the museum and they just all like bombarded him and he was just like, 'This is great,' and his tail's wagging," Long told Inside Edition.
Jonny eventually became a therapy dog, visiting terminally ill children at the hospital. He won the 2014 ASPCA Dog of the Year award and even made the cover of Parade magazine.
These days, Jonny lets kids at the local library read to him as part of a literacy program.
"He's brought a lot of joy and love to people's lives, he's taught people that pit bulls are lovely, amazing, loving dogs," said Long.
The day Inside Edition met Jonny, he was hanging out with another former Vick dog.
Ginger was adopted by Stacy Dubuc. While she was initially quite fearful, Ginger has come a long way.
"When I brought her home, she was very scared, she didn't really like loud sounds, she didn't really like people trying to touch her," Dubuc told Inside Edition.
But now, "she's such a different dog. She is confident, she's happy," she added.
The Washington Post recently tracked down all 47 dogs rescued from the fighting ring. Sadly, most have passed on. But many are still leading happy lives with their new owners.
Now retired, Vick is an analyst for Fox Sports. He's also become an advocate for stronger animal cruelty laws.
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