Michael Vick's Dogs, Animal Cruelty, Lost Souls and the Sociopath Part IV ( Need to Know Update 2011)

 HERE is video and pics of the Michael Vick dogs today:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/video/need-to-know-january-21-2011/6464/ (video of Michael Vick's Lost Dogs) Cry like a baby:

What happened to the dogs at Vick's Bad Newz Kennels?
Parade Magazine has a story this month about the new book, The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption by Jim Gorant. 
I am glad someone is following up on this group of dogs. The article states that usually, animals in this situation are put to sleep so we really don't know how rescued fighting dogs can change.

The dog on the parade cover is now a "Reading Dog! That is, children at libraries read to dogs. Did you know about his program? We have it here in Manhattan. It seems helps the kids so much, to read to a dog.

So, the one that got my attention was Hector. He's all scarred up on his chest.

Hector, now certified to work with the sick and elderly!

I think this is an interesting article as it brings up the issue of healing.
Many human children are maltreated by their parents or "caregivers."
 The research shows that about one third of abused kids go on to be abusive; one third have more internal, personal problems like depression; and one third go on to live wonderful lives. Some may even be higher in compassion than the norm--i read a book once, Strong at the Broken Places  about high functioning adults who were abused as children; how we develop strengths specifically from our trials.

BeAN pLANTS
Consider bean plants-- how many of you grew small bean plants in grade school? You gave some too much water or light; some not enough light, etc. It was clear that there is an optimum level of gift-giving to the plants. But consider this:
AFTER all the wounding is over, if you take the plant and give it what it needs to heal, the fruits of that plant may be richer, sweeter, than the fruits of plant which were never wounded.
Many folks have adopted a dog who seems to know that they owe life to their benefactor, and shows a gratitude and love they might not have experienced otherwise.
When we study the healing and redemption of these dogs, and the sad loss of some who apparently were too "far gone" to save, we can learn about healing our own species.

Why are some dogs unable to recover? Is it something in the dog, or is it a particular treatment, or an interaction? Can extroverted dogs who were abused but never fought, for example. heal -while introverted dogs who were champions cannot?

The psychological research literature shows that of all human child abuse: sexual, physical, emotional/psychological--the one most difficult to overcome in later adult functioning is the latter. Psychological/emotional abuse attacks the very heart of one's sense of self. In cases of sexual abuse, abusers often praise or reward the crime victim. Abusive episodes may be the one time a child feels any "positive" attention at all. During physical abuse, some children are told, "I am doing this because I love you" or "You need to learn" etc etc...

But insulting and demeaning a person is telling them that they themselves are worthless.

The sociopathic person does not care about all this--their behavior to others is always to get something or feel something. That is what i want to write a bit about next.

Sociopaths, Animal Abuse, Michael Vick and Our Own Hearts:

Part I       Part II        Part III        The Disgrace of Bullfighting

click pics to enlarge.