As Virginia looked outside at the world around her, she wondered if she would ever be adopted. The home she was at was okay, but she missed her brothers and her sister. They had all already been adopted and taken to new homes. Virginia was the last and that made her sad. She was glad that the others had all gone off to good homes but she often wondered if something was wrong with her. Why hadn’t anyone adopted her?
She had beautiful honey colored hair and big brown eyes that shone with a subtle glint of gold when the sunlight would hit them just right. She was like most young females her age, she liked to play and run around outside and be with friends, but when it came to boys, well you know how that goes.
Her last sibling had been adopted three weeks ago and the time since had been miserable for Virginia. She didn’t have anyone to play with and no one to talk to. She was so lonely.
Then, one day it finally happened. Her savior had arrived. He was the one who would take her away to her new family. When she saw the big gleaming black truck pull up, she immediately thought “Wow, that is a really nice car; big shiny wheels. Looks expensive. Maybe He’s rich.” She thought wishfully.
When the Man got out she saw that he had three friends with Him. ‘Oh, boy,’ she thought, ‘this is even better than I thought. If He has so many friends, maybe there will be others at his home for me to play with too.’
Virginia tried to stay calm, but she was so excited. She watched as the men talked with the man and woman who had been keeping her. She couldn’t really understand what they were saying, but it looked promising. They all looked her way, then she heard her name, “Virginia”. The Man with the big black truck smiled brightly, He nodded enthusiastically and shook her keeper’s hand. ‘This is it!’ She thought excitedly. The four men followed the man and woman into the office and after several minutes they all came back out to where Virginia was playing.
Virginia’s heart was racing, she was beside herself. She couldn’t believe that this day had finally come and she was going to her new home. And a good home, she told herself. She thought about the rich Man and how He would spoil her. A big house with a big yard and lots and lots of toys. It would be like heaven. Her brothers and sister would be so jealous if they knew where she was going.
The Man with the big truck and the bright smile walked over to her and said the words she’d been dying to hear, “Come on, Virginia. Let’s go.” She literally ran after Him as he turned and started back to his truck.
During the drive, she looked out at the passing countryside. It was so beautiful up here. She stayed quiet, just watching the landscape pass by. When she felt the truck begin to slow, she looked around and saw it. It was gorgeous, a huge white brick home surrounded by a big white fence. The truck pulled through the gate and went around to the back of the house. This was way better than she could have anticipated. There were boats, a basketball court, and even a swimming pool. Her eyes scanned the area taking in all of the wonderful sights. As the truck passed through another gate, Virginia looked up and saw them. They seemed to be everywhere, new friends for her to play with. ‘No,’ she thought, ‘not friends, family. My new family.’
When the truck finally stopped, the men got out. Virginia jumped out of the back and followed them. She was so excited. She looked around at her new family. There were so many of them. She couldn’t wait to meet everyone and play, and play, and play. This was surely how Pinocchio must have felt upon arriving at Pleasure Island; little boys everywhere with no school, no work, nothing to do but have fun. She wanted to immediately run to them and introduce herself, but miraculously she somehow stayed calm. She didn’t want the Man to think she was wild and undisciplined.
Before she had an opportunity to be introduced to everyone, one of the other men led her to a big black building. She followed him in and he closed the door behind them. Another man was already there. ‘He must be a doctor.’ Virginia thought. She recognized the long white lab coat he wore and on the table where things like she had seen during her last visit to the doctor. It was not a very fun experience, she remembered, but it wasn’t too bad. Her previous doctor had been pretty nice and he did give her a treat before she left for being a good patient.
While the doctor was checking a few things he and the man who led her in made small talk. After a couple of moments, the other men joined them inside. He was there too, the Man with the big smile. Virginia looked up at him, she so wanted to please Him, to make Him happy. She stood quietly, waiting to see what would come next.
When the men began talking, their words were foreign to Virginia. She thought could understand some of what they said but mostly she could really only recognize her name and an occasional word.
“Alright, let’s see what we’re looking at here. Get her up on the scale.” The doctor told the men.
Two of the other men picked Virginia up and lifted her onto the table which had also been fashioned into a make shift scale. Although she was a little startled, she didn’t resist. She let them move her effortlessly onto the large examination table.
The doctor checked the scale. “Fourty-two pounds.” He told the Man with the smile. The Man nodded silently. He seemed to be thinking.
“Kinda light, huh?” One of the others asked. “Whatcha wanna do with her?”
The Man with the smile looked at Virginia, it seemed as if he were sizing her up. She looked back at him, her eyes were wide and filled with an as yet unwarranted love. She sat up on the table proudly, hoping to impress him.
“B & B.” He said, nonchalantly.
“Alright.” The doctor sighed. “Boys if you don’t mind get her off the table for a second.” One of the men grabbed Virginia and lifted her off the table and set her back onto the ground. She looked up and around, curious to see what was going on.
The doctor pulled an odd looking contraption from the corner of the shed. It was heavy and made a loud sound when he dropped it onto the table. Virginia looked at it, she had never seen anything like it. It was a large, rectangular, metal frame with adjustable posts rising from the two far ends. Each of the posts was topped with a semicircular band of metal and had thick leather straps attached to them. The doctor grabbed an cordless drill and bolted the device down onto the top of the examination table.
As soon as he had finished he looked at the men and nodded impatiently. “Okay, let’s go!”
Two of the men again grabbed, Virginia and lifted her back onto the table, more roughly this time than before. As they placed her over the frame, one of the men grabbed the back of her neck and began to push her head down into the circular support. Virginia was scared. The man’s grip on her neck was tight, it was strong and forceful. She instinctively resisted. She fought back, trying to hold her head up and away from the weird metal contraption. As the man continued to press down on her head, her instincts got the better of her and she twisted her head around and bit the man’s wrist. He jerked his arm back and rubbed his wrist.
“Goddammit!” He exclaimed as the others laughed at him. Then without warning he reared back and struck Virginia in the side of the face with his powerful fist. “You little bitch!” He growled at her. The strength of the blow stunned her. She cowered and whimpered pathetically as her body fell limp. The doctor stepped up quickly pushed her head back into the metal structure and fastened the leather straps around her neck. It was tight, so tight. Virginia couldn’t move her head no matter how hard she tried, she was stuck, strapped to the cold metal frame. She looked around with her eyes, searching, pleading for someone to help her. She looked at Him. He just stared at her, his face was devoid of emotion.
She had no idea what was happening. She was so scared. Her face hurt from where the big man had punched her. Why didn’t the Man with the smile do something? Why didn’t He help her? Her neck was tied down so tightly it made it hard for her to breathe. She couldn’t find her voice, she could merely whimper. Then she felt the men grasp her midsection. She tried to kick free but they were too strong for her. They held her down, pushing her stomach into the remaining support and tightened the strap around her. No matter how much she struggled, she could not move. Her legs kicked and she struggled to find a footing, but there was none. She was trapped, her body suspended from the bizarre apparatus.
Virginia was terrified. She looked back to the Man with the smile. Why? Why was He letting them to this to her? What were they doing?
“Let’s get on with it.” The Man said coldly.
The doctor had turned back to his table and retrieved several instruments. He handed one to the man who Virginia had bitten. He glared down at her evily. “You ain’t gonna like this. But you damn sure ain’t gonna be biting no body no more.” He scoffed at her.
With that he grabbed her under the chin, his fingers gripped her jaw like a vise. She tried to clamp down and keep her mouth closed. But finally, her will and her strength were outmatched by the man and her mouth began to slowly open. Instantly he shoved a wooden hammer handle lengthwise through her mouth. He then got behind her and began to twist the handle back towards him like a motorcycle throttle. Virginia tried to bite down on the stick to keep the man from pulling it back. Her teeth dug into it as the man continued to turn, leaving deep gouges in the wood. With one final pull and twist, he jerked the thick wooden shaft all the way back, effectively forcing her mouth open wide. The handle was lodged back behind the molars, locking her jaw open.
Virginia was so young and innocent. She could not fathom what these men were doing. What had she done? Why were they doing this to her? Whatever it was she was sorry, so sorry. She didn’t know. She didn’t mean to be bad. She wanted to be good for the Man. Fear began to consume her. She couldn’t struggle, she had no footing, her neck and body were securely fastened to the evil metal stand.
As the doctor turned back to her, he carried a pair of pliers. Virginia could see and even smell the dried blood on them. Sensing danger, her fight began anew. Her legs kicked wildly as she searched for the ground. She tried to move her head. It was hopeless. Her jaw ached from the pressure exerted by the stick in her mouth. She was terrified, how had her day, her life gone so wrong? All she wanted was to love and to be loved. She had never imagined anything like this. Not knowing what evils awaited her, her mind and her body somehow sensed the impending danger. Her bodied convulsed and her bladder let loose. She began to urinate uncontrollably.
As the doctor neared her, he gripped her lower jaw and inserted the pliers into her mouth. They found their target, her right, upper incisor. She could feel the metal scrape against the tooth. The sensation sent a chill down her spine. Then she felt the pliers clamp onto the tooth. The doctor used both hands to grip the pliers as he twisted and yanked down.
The pain was excruciating. Virginia cried out, unable to do anything more. Blood poured from the gaping wound inside her mouth. She could taste the thick salty fluid as it covered her tongue and dripped from her mouth. The doctor tossed the tooth onto the floor and began the process all over again on the next tooth.
There was no relief for Virginia, no anesthic, nothing but intense, excrutiating pain. The men all stood around watching as the doctor repeated the savage procedure again and again, it was as if this hideous torture was commonplace to them – it was. Virginia felt so weak, her body lie draped across the metal frame, limp, practically lifeless, all she could do was cry. But no one there seemed to care or even listen, not even Him, not even the Man with the big smile.
After the fifth tooth had been forcibly removed, Virginia’s mouth gushed blood. It dripped in long sticky cords from her mouth pooling in a large black-red mass atop the table. Any fight that Virginia had in her had been extinguished. She had no energy, barely a sound escaped her broken body. Only an occasional whimper.
“How much longer can this go on?” She wondered pitifully. Her head was pounding, her body was sore and she seemed to be awash in a nightmarish fog. Her mouth was being ripped apart and she could do nothing to stop the pain.
But little did Virginia know, this was only the beginning of her violent new life. There would be so much more, more pain, more suffering, more humiliation and abuse, torture and repeated rape with her body strapped to the vile device. And when finally the men had had their fun and they no longer had a use for her broken body, she would be killed in some way that would sicken any normal human, but seemed to excite this evil men.
If only she could have truly told her story and let the world hear of these horrors as experienced Through Her Eyes.
Author’s Note:
This is a fictionalized account of how a female dog could expect to be treated by Michael Vick, Purnell Peace, Tony Taylor and Quanis Philips – the men who ran Bad NewZ Kennels. In the story Virginia was bought to be bred and ultimately serve as a bait dog. She had all FORTY-TWO of her teeth forcibly removed so that she could not bite and fight back. She was repeatedly raped. She was severely beaten, kicked, malnurished and abused. At the end of her days, when the men no longer had a use for her, she was dragged from her cage by a chain. Once they got her to the posts, one of the men wrapped the cold metal chain around her neck. Then with the help of another, they begin to lift her body off of the ground. One final time, her legs kicked violently, searching once again for the ground. It was not to be found. Virginia struggled for about three minutes before her body finally stopped. Three slow minutes of agonizing pain as the men watched and laughed.
On May 21, 2012 Michael Vick’s federal probation will terminate and he will once again be eligible for dog ownership. Wayne Pacelle, the CEO of the Humane Society of the United States has said:
“I do think that if his rehabilitation progresses and he handles the probation period flawlessly, it could be a good thing for Michael Vick’s family to have a pet at the end of that process.” – Wayne Pacell
The Humane Society’s Mission Statement is – “Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty”
There is a glaring disconnect between the organization’s core intent and its leader’s very flawed judgement. It is ludicris for a man who is in charge of an organization like this to support an admitted abuser, torturer, and murderer of numerous dogs (for his pleasure) in owning another dog – EVER! I urge you to stop supporting the HSUS until Wayne Pacelle is no longer at its helm, or until he publicly and openly reverses his stance on Michael Vick’s future dog ownership.
Sign the Petition to have the Board of th HSUS remove Wayne Pacelle from his position as CEO.
Demand Pacelle Step Down as Leader of HSUS
Thank you for reading.
Chris Durant
This story is dedicated to the dogs that had the torturous misfortune of encountering Michael Vick and Bad Newz Kennels, and to all of the dogs that have ever been subjected to this type of barbarism. It is also dedicated to the Immortal “Gypsy” who has become the face of this murderous bloodsport and to “Smokey” – the best looking dog I never met who survived being doused with acid and left to die in the sweltering desert. Finally, it is dedicated to the brave and giving individuals who have worked with and adopted the survivors and continue to help them enjoy a better life.
To Michael Vick: If your children wonder why they can’t have a dog right now, perhaps you could read them Virginia’s little bedtime story.
USEFUL LINKS:
Michael Vick Deserves a Pet – A Pet Rock Join me in sending a Pet Rock to Wayne Pacelle at HSUS headquarters on May 20, 2012 for Michael Vick to adopt.
Michael Vick was WRONGLY CONVICTED! Do not be misled by the title, it is not what you may think. It also includes links to the original court documents and more.
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The Very Debonair "Smokey"
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