Pit Bulls in need of Rehab and good homes.

Fight dogs hope for new home here
By Tim Townsend
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/19/2008
Eight pit bulls seized in a 2007 raid on a Spokane, Wash., dog-fighting operation are on their way to St. Louis to be rehabilitated and, if all goes well, find new homes.Nancy Hill, director of the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service, or SCRAPS, said her organization put the dogs — seven females and one male — on a climate-controlled van called the Best Friends Freedom Train about 10:30 St. Louis time Wednesday morning.She estimated that the Great Eight, as they were dubbed in Spokane — Hope, Justice, Rita, Callie, Fatty, Zita, Gorda and Chewie (the male) — would arrive at Stray Rescue of St. Louis about 4:30 p.m. today. Hill said her organization settled on Stray Rescue after a long, nationwide search "because they have a great reputation for working with these kinds of animals."Hill said two men were arrested in April 2007 after Spokane County officials found the dogs with battle scars, and in February, both men were convicted of animal fighting and keeping an illegal kennel.

The Spokane case was tried in the shadow of the national uproar resulting from former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick's participation in a dogfighting operation. Vick was sentenced last year to 23 months in federal prison. Utah-based Best Friends Animal Society — which is transporting the Great Eight from Washington to St. Louis — took in 22 of Vick's pit bulls. Randy Grim, founder of Stray Rescue on 18th Street in St. Louis, said he would evaluate the animals, and based on what he found, begin looking for homes for them. Grim said Stray Rescue had taken in 50 to 100 dogs that had been used for fighting.Both Hill and Grim said rescued fighting dogs were often good with people because the dogs were used to being handled. It's other animals — especially other dogs — they typically have problems with. Grim said he would work with an animal behaviorist and a veterinarian to determine the care each dog would need.He said he hoped the most well-adjusted dogs could be adopted within the next two weeks. Those with more significant behavioral problems will have to be rehabilitated before being placed in a home. "These dogs are not the monsters people think they are," said Grim. "Maybe the Great Eight will be an opportunity to show people that these dogs shouldn't be feared, but pitied since they're the ones that are victims of a crime."ttownsend@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8221