Every once in a while a story hits the press about a dog fighting operation that has been busted. None of these stories has been more notorious than the one involving NFL star Michael Vick. In 2007, when a dogfighting operation was discovered on his property in Virginia, there was a media frenzy. Although it appeared to get a lot of coverage, what the public saw was only a portion of what was going on behind the scenes. A gag order kept much of the information about the investigation and the Vick dogs out of the media.
Jim Gorant has done an amazing job bringing the story to light in The Lost Dogs: Michael Vicks Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption. Gorant’s narrative takes the reader from the preliminary days of the investigation through every step of building a case against Vick and his friends. He introduces us to the investigators who broke the case at the Bad Newz Kennels and the difficulties they encountered while uncovering evidence. As details of the case come to light, he paints a disgusting picture of dog fighting in general, and Michael Vick in particular. Gorant’s writing is compelling and engaging. Readers will find it difficult to put the book down.
The true stroke of brilliance in the narrative is the way Gorant writes about the dogs. They are not just intangible objects secondary to a celebrity story. The dogs are the story: they are the victims, and the book, after all, is about their redemption. Gorant describes with vivid detail what it means to be a fight dog, describing their existence from a dog’s viewpoint. Then he makes the reader fall in love with each of the 51 unique dogs, as he draws us through the story of their individual struggles during the rescue process.
Of course, not all the dogs make it through the process. But the efforts of the multiple rescue teams that work to save them is nothing short of heroic. Ultimately, the final outcome for the dogs is a thousand times better than any of the rescuers had dared to hope.
Gorant doesn’t leave the reader hanging with the story of the rescue. In the final chapter “Where Are They Now?” he gives a final update on each dog for closure.
Although readers can take some comfort in the final outcome for the Vick dogs, it’s impossible to come away from the book with anything but utter contempt for Vick; and disgust that he continues to reap the financial rewards of an adoring public.
- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Gotham; Reprint edition (September 6, 2011)
- ISBN-10: 159240667X
Jim Gorant is the senior editor at Sports Illustrated. He has also written for GQ, Men’s Journal, Men’s Health, Outside, Sports Afield and Popular Science among others. His previous books include Fit for Golf and Fanatic: 10 Things All Sports Fans Should Do Before They Die.
NOTE: The Lost Dogs was published before the latest development in the Vick story. The rescue group, Dogs Deserve Better, has purchased the former Vick property in Smithfield, Virginia and turned it into the Good Newz Rehab Center for Chained and Penned Dogs.
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