When former Falcons quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to run a dogfighting operation, he had kept about 50 pit bulls on his 15-acre property in rural Surry County, Va. Headlines described the dogs as "menacing." Some animal rights groups called for the "ticking time bombs" to be euthanized as soon as Vick's case was closed. Instead, the court gave Vick's dogs a second chance. U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson ordered each dog to be evaluated individually. And he ordered Vick to pony up close to $1 million to pay for the lifelong care of those that could be saved. Of the 49 pit bulls animal behavior experts evaluated, only one was deemed too vicious to warrant saving and was euthanized. Of the 47 surviving dogs, 25 were placed directly in foster homes, and a handful have been or are being adopted. Twenty-two were deemed potentially aggressive toward other dogs and were sent to an animal sanctuary in Utah.
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