The last surviving pit bull rescued from Michael Vick’s huge dogfighting operation has actually passed away, animal welfare advocates said Monday.
Frodo, among dozens of dogs rescued by authorities in 2007 from Virginia’s Bad Newz Kennels, was put down Saturday as his adoptive family “helped him pass over” to be with the remainder of the rescued animals, according to BADRAP, a California-based animal well-being team.
” He was the last of 48 brave survivors from that game changing case,” the Oakland company said in a statement. “Sweet Frodo– how we liked him. He was one of the bravest survivors we’ve ever met.”
The “wonderful, shy” canine was estimated to be about 15 years old– and invested the last 14 being “pampered like a royal prince” by the California couple that adopted him, BADRAP said.
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A picture accompanying Monday’s death announcement reveals Kim Ramirez and her daughter, Dominique, preparing to give Frodo a “big bag of steak” before his transition.
The Washington Post via Getty Images
One more among the rescued dogs, Jonny Justice, died just 2 days before Frodo, BADRAP said.
” Oh Jonny! We assumed you might live forever,” the company’s statement continued.
Before the death of Frodo and Jonny Justice, one more canine saved from Vick’s operation, Uba, passed away throughout the first week in October.
Geoff Burke/Getty Images
” Warm sympathies and gratitude to the families,” BADRAP said. “We’ll return with even more on each special dog and the lives they lived, but for currently, it’s time to have a little cry and say good-bye to them all.”
Frodo was called as one of the “most accomplished” supposed Vick dogs by BADRAP in an update about their adoption placements five years later. After initially being too shy to look caretakers in the eye, the nervous animal went onto blossom right into a “cheerful dog” in near-constant look for human attention.
At one point, Frodo suffered from nightmares after being rescued and cried regularly, Ramirez, of Fremont, informed the Washington Post in 2019. So Ramirez calmed the dog by turning on a fan or a TV, she said.
” I have actually had to somewhat rearrange my life in a way for Frodo,” Ramirez told the paper. “And he deserves it, believe me.”
Ramirez adopted Frodo in the fall of 2017, she told the Washington Message.
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Vick, 41, offered 19 months in federal jail for bankrolling the dogfighting procedure and admitting to killing dogs. Upon his release, the previous Atlanta Falcons super star went on to play for 3 NFL teams before finishing his career in 2015 after 13 seasons. He later joined Fox Sports as an analyst in 2017.
Vick, who also paid nearly $1 million in restitution to look after the surviving dogs, informed the Washington Post in 2019 he believed individuals have “moved on” from the high-profile situation.
” I think they have actually passed it,” the former NFL super star informed the newspaper in 2017. “It’s been 12-plus years since all of it happened, so I don’t obtain any questions regarding it anymore. People don’t talk about it. They do not ask me about it.”
