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Start giftingThe Lost Dogs
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Learn moreThis is an inspiring story of survival and our powerful bond with man’s best friend in the aftermath of the nation’s most notorious case of animal cruelty.
Animal lovers and sports fans were shocked when the story broke about NFL player Michael Vick’s brutal dogfighting operation. But what became of the dozens of dogs who survived? As acclaimed writer Jim Gorant discovered, their story is the truly newsworthy aspect of this case. Expanding on Gorant’s Sports Illustrated cover story, The Lost Dogs traces the effort to bring Vick to justice and turns the spotlight on these infamous pit bulls, who were saved from euthanasia by an outpouring of public appeals coupled with a court order that Vick pay nearly one million dollars in “restitution” to the dogs.
As an ASPCA-led team evaluated each one, they found a few hardened fighters, but many more lovable, friendly creatures desperate for compassion. In The Lost Dogs, we meet these amazing animals, a number of which are now living in loving homes, while some even work in therapy programs. Johnny Justice participates in Paws for Tales, which lets kids get comfortable with reading aloud by reading to dogs; Leo spends three hours a week with cancer patients and troubled teens. At the heart of the stories are the rescue workers who transformed the pups from victims of animal cruelty into healing caregivers themselves, unleashing priceless hope.
Jim Gorant has worked as a magazine editor and writer for twenty years and is currently a senior editor at Sports Illustrated. His work has appeared in such magazines as Men’s Health, GQ, and Outside. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller The Lost Dogs. He lives in New Jersey.
Richard Powers has published thirteen novels. He is a MacArthur Fellow and received the National Book Award. His book, The Overstory, won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.
Reviews
“Jim Gorant goes beyond the headlines of Michael Vick and the Bad News Kennels to richly tell the rest of the story: how these amazing dogs, in the wake of such brutality, help bring out the best in the human spirit.”
“Jim Gorant provides a powerful narrative that is, at times, heartbreaking, but also illuminating and inspirational. You will come away from The Lost Dogs warmed by the knowledge that it wasn’t only Vick who got a second chance.”
“The horrors that befell Vick’s dogs at 1915 Moonlight Road in Smithfield, VA—the hangings, drownings, the electrocutions—remain difficult to consider. In Sports Illustrated senior editor Jim Gorant’s new book, The Lost Dogs…the author provides a definitive unsparing account not only of that brutality but of the larger dogfighting culture that engendered it…While Dogs chronicles the investigation…at its center are the stories of the deeply traumatized animals…and of the people who banded together to save them…47 of Vick’s battered dogs were saved. Most of the creatures turned from shivering, scarred messes into well-adjusted household pets…Above all, Gorant’s fine book is a heartwarming tale of how the love and commitment of a community can heal even the deepest and most abhorrent of traumas.”
“Gorant offers a chilling investigation into Michael Vick’s dog-fighting operation and the men and women who brought him to justice and rehabilitated the rescued dogs. Gorant outlines the rise of Bad Newz Kennels, describing in sometimes painful detail the abuse, torture, and execution of the animals...[and] the efforts to save these animals from euthanasia…At a time when Vick has returned to professional football and much of the public outcry about Bad Newz Kennels has been forgotten, this book provides a stark reminder about the horror and prevalence of dog fighting.”
“Told with quiet authority (and unbelievable guts), Gorant details the discovery of the Bad Newz kennel, the efforts of USDA special agent Jim Knorr and Virginia deputy sheriff Bill Brinkman to bust it, official resistance to touching Vick, the move on Bad Newz, the efforts of BAD RAP pit bull rescuers Tim Racer and Donna Reynolds to evaluate the dogs (which saved them from being destroyed), the thoroughgoing plan for the dogs’ reclamation, and the legal and moral ramifications of the case…Riveting, heartbreaking, and finally hopeful, this is exemplary reporting; essential for anyone who cares about animal welfare—or what it means to be responsibly human.”
“The Lost Dogs takes an up close and personal look at society’s ultimate underdogs, and the animal lovers who bucked the odds—and the system—to save them. Gorant has crafted an insightful and uplifting tale about the way that nurture can sometimes triumph over nature, and how the remnants of cruelty can be transformed through the power of hope and love.”
“Jim Gorant’s remarkably even-handed The Lost Dogs is a gripping story of redemption that uncovers the other side of the Michael Vick story. A portrait of dogs as individuals, caught up in events that reveal the best and worst of human nature, The Lost Dogs will validate dog lovers and possibly transform cynics as well.”
“Narrator Paul Michael Garcia’s reading is very even and matter-of-fact…For the entire last disc of the set, Garcia recounts one by one, with a distinct note of optimism, the present status of the forty-four dogs (out of fifty-five) that survived…The controversy involving Vick continues while for most of the innocent victims—the dogs—the story does have a bright outlook for the future.”
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