Former Vick Pit Bull Appears on Rachel Ray
Johnny Justice, an adorable black and white Pit Bull, was the star of the Rachel Ray show this past Friday. Johnny served as the spokesdog for BADRAP (Bay Area Dog Lovers Responsible About Pit Bulls), a group who took on 10 of Vick’s dogs once they were turned over for rehabilitation. Donna Reynolds, the co-founder of BADRAP explained the process - ” We had to petition the prosecuting attorney to allow us to go in and even look at the dogs,” “So when he said yes, which was landmark, we then had to sit at home and wait to see if the judge would allow us to bring them home. We had a lot of sleepless nights wondering if they would let us do it. When he said yes, it was fantastic!”
Photo credit: BADRAP
While the Vick situation was horrific- it seems that it may have opened the publics eyes to some of the mis-truths the media has been perpetuating about the breed. “Hopefully,” Donna said, “now that this case has shown America what so-called ‘fighting dogs’ are like, we can take the word blood-thirsty and throw it in the trash. These are individual dogs — these are pets — who ended up in a horribly abusive situation, and they’re proving to everyone that they deserve better. That they deserve to be evaluated as individuals and treated with compassion.”
I’m so happy that the chef opened her show to this topic! As some of you might know, Rachel is a Pit Bull owner herself! She has a dog named Isaboo who she mentions constantly!
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March 4th, 2008 at 11:28 am
No one loves dogs more than I do, however saying that a pit bull is just as harmless as any other breed is just plain naive! I have worked with the SPCA for years, socializing dogs, playing with the rescues until they have homes. And yes, pit bulls or pit bull mixes comprise up about 80% of the dogs that are turned in. I’ve played with them, chased balls with them and hugged them, and I love them as any other breed. But, don’t be stupid. These dogs can be unpredictable! You can own a dog for years and you will never know when something makes them mad and they attack. Do you want it to be your child, your grandmother, your other dog? At SPCA/LA, we do not adopt pit bulls out to families with small children or other small dogs. Why do you think that is? And these people are experts. A survey done by the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Assn in 2000, showed that 76% of human deaths by dogs were caused by pit bulls or pit bull mixes. Do people just choose to ignore this? I don’t want these dogs hurt in any way and I deplore what Michael Vick did. But use common sense when bringing a dog like this into your home and know what you may be getting into
March 19th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
[...] recently received a response to my post about one of the Michael Vick Pit Bulls appearing on Rachel Ray’s television show. What follows is the comment in it’s [...]
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:12 pm
In response to Sandy’s comment, that is about the most ignorant thing you could speak, don’t hide behind the guise that your a friend to the Pitbull your obviously uneducated about the breed. Have you ever owned one>? I bet not, Anything with teeth can bite you and alot of dogs have an aggression trait or the ability to attack but Pits are always the scapegoats, most of these alleged dog attacks you speak of are done by dogs who resemble pits but actually have no Pit in them. Case in point that story about VIng Rhames friend dying in Cali taking care of 2 bull mastiffs and a pitbull, they originally reported that the dogs attacked and ate the man, but a month later it was deemed the guy died of a drug overdose completely unrelated to the dogs but the dogs were already dead so it didn’t matter. Did the news do a rebuttle NO because saying a pit is a good dog does not sell ratings. If pits are so unpredicatable like you say I wonder why they used one while filming with kids on the little rascals? Or why they trusted one to be Hellen Kellers companion? Or why the US military had one save an entire US platoon? I too volunteer in an animal shelter and to say pitbulls are unpredictable is simply put STUPID. You get out of something what you put into it. NO dog should be left alone to it’s own devices. It’s the owners repsonsibility to make sure there dog of any breed is properly socialized when a dog bites someone it’s not the dogs fault. Hold the irresponsible dog owners responsible not the dogs their just doing what theyve been taught, unless there is a neurological disorder dogs don’t just bite for no reason. Before you post another bogus comment do your research, 10 out of 10 vets interviewed would rather work with pitbulls than any other breed. Here’s another question for you genious, If they are unpredictable man eaters how can dog fighters put them in and out of the ring without being attacked? People like you and your stupidity really need to stick to your maltese and shut up about dogs you don’t know anything about.
April 15th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
You didn’t dispute her statistics; you just threw out some dubious others. and some pit bulls, unpredictably, do bite refs when carried in and out of the pits. those dogs, however, are culled immediately. the net “result” of an individual fight is a group of specific dogs that didn’t attack the ref. this net result might give, i suppose, the appearance of a group of dogs that don’t attack humans. but not exactly the full picture, eh? so let’s be real about that situation.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:37 pm
[...] adorable Pit Bull Pup is going to inflict some chewing revenge on this Michael Vick chew [...]
July 31st, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I think that this person Sandi Gateman it the most ignorant person I have read on the net so far. How could you make believe you are a friend to the pit bull and then say those things. You are a fiend. I own a pit bull, (which you obviously do not), and he is THE most well trained calm sweet dog I have ever MET and I am not saying that cause he is my dog. Dogs dont TURN, people turn. Dogs grow up and learn and behave according to what you teach them. If you feed them gun powder yeah they might turn cause they have an embolism in their brain, and who’s fault is that? Not the dog or the breed. You are just like every other hater out there I bet your predjudice against black folks too? They are all mean unruly and you cant trust them?? Oh common and wake up.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
I actually think Sandi seems a little hostile
and possibly violent. Maybe she needs a trip to the vet? And for any dog’s sake I hope she’s not a dog owner. She is obviously uneducated, close-minded and a hipocritical ignorant person. I couldn’t agree with Mimi and C Swift more. It’s people like Sandi who are the ones giving our beloved pits a bad rap. My Pit is by far the most loving, mild temtered, caring, affectionate dog I have ever met. How’s that you ask? Because she was raised that way. In a stable loving environment. Blame the careless, violent, irresponsible owners. These dogs are the victims. So Sandi, get your facts straight, and stop being an ignorant racist person.