Don't cast away the Vick dogs just yet

The dogs are caged, imprisoned really. They no longer have names, just numbers.

They gnaw at their cages. Some pace nervously. All of them are scared. If they are lucky they are allowed out of their 4-by-8 cells once a week, but they have no interaction with other dogs.

These pit bulls are guilty. Guilty of fighting, of being bred, trained and forced to attack each other, for the amusement and gambling pleasures of humans.

The Vick Dogs, as they've come to be known, are the dogs bred and used to fight on Michael Vick's property in Surry, Va. They were fed cats and other small animals to give them the taste of blood.

They were abused and taunted and turned into killers. And now, in four separate kennels in four different Virginia counties, they await the sentence that will be handed down by the court for these actions in the lives they didn't ask to live.

Some of them weren't even fighters. Some females were used only for breeding, some dogs were too young, but all 50 of them taken from the Vick property might be sentenced to death.

Before the courts decide the fates of these dogs, animal behaviorists will come to these holding cells/kennels, observe the temperament of the dogs and make recommendations.

Many animal-rights groups believe euthanasia is the right thing to do. They believe these dogs are too far gone to be rehabilitated.

Other groups, such as the Coalition To Save The Vick Dogs, based in New York City, are asking for patience.

"I've seen many rehabilitated tough dogs," said Wayne Johnson, a longtime animal-rights activist and spokesman for the Coalition To Save The Vick Dogs. "No matter what kind of bloodlines, if they are separated from the other dogs, we believe, some of them can be retrained."

These Vick dogs are manifestations of the worst in mankind. They represent something disturbing about who some of us are and what some of us think is sport.

The dogs recovered from the Vick property are the lucky ones. They weren't drowned, beaten, electrocuted or hung after losses.

They survived, at least temporarily. But they sit in these cages, a sort of canine death row, awaiting the court's decision.

Most of the attention on this case has centered on Vick's NFL future.

After his incarceration, will he, should he, be allowed back in the league?

Much of the league's concern seems concentrated on the gambling that is at the heart of this blood sport. The league appears much more worried about the gambling than the animal cruelty.

And then, of course, there is the burning debate about whether his replacement, Joey Harrington, can fill Vick's fleet shoes.

But what about the dogs? Isn't it too easy to sentence all of them to death? Aren't they, not Vick, not the league, not the Falcons, the victims?

"Mentally, these dogs are in pretty bad shape," Johnson said. "Even though they were treated so badly, forced to fight each other, and put on treadmills to the point of exhaustion and fed kittens, among other animals, they still have a tremendous sense of loyalty to their owners.

"Now they feel abandoned. They're bewildered, confused. They're in a setting that is a flat-out jail. They don't know who these people are who are caring for them and there's a sense of what's next?"

Johnson and his group believe many of these dogs can be and should be rehabilitated. At the least, his group believes, even the meanest dogs could be placed in some form of humane isolation.

It believes sanctuaries can be found that would allow the dogs some space, even, at first, if it merely is a 12-by-12 run.

"We think it's eminently preferable to death," Johnson said.

Three sanctuaries have offered to take some of the dogs — Mariah's Promise in Colorado, Best Friends in Utah and the Animal Care Foundation in Hawaii.

"My experience is that dogs taken out of their situation, given time and patience, given new information, can be saved," said Toni Phillips of Mariah's Promise, a dog sanctuary in Divide, Colo., two hours outside of Denver. "They can become good citizens. All of these dogs want to be safe."

The Vick case has shed light on a very disturbing subculture in this country. If there is any good to come from his crimes, this is it.

"It isn't just a sports, or even a Southern rural culture, that is involved in this," Johnson said. "The point is, there seems to be a lot of people who enjoy watching animals tear each other apart. There is a thrill, that 'this is my dog' feeling. And then there also is shame when their dog loses. If you have a dog that loses, then you're a loser and, overwhelmingly, the losers' dogs are put to death."

Now, in Virginia, 50 dogs await their fates.

Do all of these victims deserve to die?

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists