The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption by Jim Gorant

This was a well-written book by a Sports Illustrated reported chronicling the story behind the dogs involved in Michael Vick's dogfighting group.  The first half focused on the discovery and investigation of Vick's dogfighting ring.  The second half of the book was about several individual dogs and the process of their being rehabilitated and adopted.  I could hardly put this book down.

The depiction of what dog fights are like and of the conditions in which fighting dogs are kept helped me understand for the first time exactly how terribly dogs are treated in this environment.  One of the methods Gorant used to describe these conditions was through imagining how a couple of the dogs might have felt during their time living at the dogfighting compound.  I thought this was an effective way to personalize (dog-ize?) a difficult topic. 

I really enjoyed reading about the rehabilitation.  Of the 50 dogs rescued from his property, I believe only 3 or 4 had to be put down for health or behavior issues.  While an initial assessment of the situation had experts believing that rescuing 5 dogs would be "good news", the panel of experts actually assigned to evaluate each dog found that most of them were unsocialized and/or scared, but very few were aggressive.  This is contrary to what the ASPCA had previously though about dogs rescued from fighting rings and the story of these dogs' rehabilitation has influenced the ASPCA to change their policy on dogfighting rescue dogs.  The stories of the individuals who worked with the dogs through this period, some of whom are also the people who end up adopting them, were riveting.  Tears came to my eyes often, reading of little victories that reminded me of my own dog's behavior as the dogs adjusted.

The only aspect of the book I did not connect to was the characterization of a few of the investigators.  I thought Gorant was trying to make that an equally compelling storyline but I just wasn't as interested in reading that as I was in reading about the dogs.  That aside, I am really glad I read this book and learned about the dogfighting culture and about the rehabilitation of these wonderful animals.