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Pit bull rescued from famous dogfighting ring now helps cancer patients…

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – It’s a dog’s life. And for Leo it couldn’t be better.

Leo — rescued from heavy chains that confined him as one of the pit bulls in former NFL quarterback Michael Vick’s dogfighting ring — is a lover, not a fighter. He now happily frolics in a clown collar as he makes the rounds at the Camino Infusion Center, where he brings comfort to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Despite his training as a killer, Leo is a sweetheart as he visits his friends on the ward.

“He is wonderful, and all the patients love Leo,” said Paula Reed, the facility’s oncology director. “They really love his eyes and gentleness.”

Six months ago, Leo should have been dead.

When officers raided Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels in Smithfield, Va., last year, they found dogs, some injured and scarred, chained to buried car axles. Forensic experts discovered remains of dogs that had been shot with a .22-caliber pistol, electrocuted, drowned, hanged or slammed to the ground for lacking a desire to fight.

Vick, an All-Pro quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, was suspended indefinitely and is serving 23 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in August to bankrolling the dogfighting operation and helping to kill as many as eight dogs. Three co-defendants also pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison.

About 50 dogs were rescued.

Animal advocates are divided over whether fighting dogs can be trusted to have new lives as pets or working dogs. One of the dogs seized at Bad Newz was put down as too aggressive, but the others were dispersed to sanctuaries and training facilities across the country.

An ‘incredible’ difference with patients…

One of them was Leo, who ended up in the care of Marthina McClay, a certified trainer and counselor in Los Gatos, near San Francisco. McClay is president of Our Pack, an advocacy group for pit bulls.

“He was a little like a caveman at a tea party,” McClay said. “He didn’t have a lot of training.”

But after five weeks of intense instruction and supervision, and more weeks of acclimation, Leo is now — with all due respect —a pussy cat. He loves putting his head on a patient’s lap and batting his big brown eyes.

“The difference that he’s had with our patients has been incredible — the smiles on their faces, the joy when they see him,” said Reed of the cancer center.

“Leo is a survivor and our patients are survivors, and I think they can relate to each other,” she said.

Leo also touches young people on probation at the Alternative Placement Academy in San Jose, where the young men seem to identify with the former tough guy.

“I think they saw this dog’s awful background, and it communicates to the kids that you can end up being what you want to be,” McClay said.

It’s the age-old story of second chances. By living his, Leo helps tear down entrenched stereotypes that pit bulls are irredeemable killers.

“Leo is definitely an ambassador to the breed,” McClay said. “The staff at various facilities will say, ‘I will never see pit bulls the same again.’”

By Marianne Favro of NBC affiliate KNTV of San Francisco and Alex Johnson of msnbc.com.

Future pet-food labels that indicate the number of calories per serving could help obese animals, a veterinarians association recommended to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday.

“Pet owners do not always know how much to feed. They may not realize the high number of calories associated with some of the pet food they are giving their pets,” said John Branam, testifying on behalf of the American Medical Veterinary Association.

The FDA held the hearing as part of legislation passed last year that requires the Center for Veterinary Medicine to establish pet-food-labeling standards in two years.

According to the veterinary group, 54 million pets in the United States are obese, an “epidemic” that the association said is growing at an alarming rate.

Nancy Cook, vice president of the Pet Food Institute’s technical and regulatory affairs division, said calorie labels are unnecessary and won’t prevent obesity in pets.

“It doesn’t work for people,” said Cook, a voice for the industry’s manufacturers.

The labels contain serving sizes based on a pet’s size. Calorie information can be obtained from food manufacturers, she said.

But the veterinary group said it’s not consumers’ and veterinarians’ jobs to track down manufacturers for that information.

A standard nutritional label that lists the number of calories per weight of food and per household items, such as a can or a cup, would prevent owners from overfeeding their pets, the group said.

The information also would help consumers and veterinarians compare and choose the best food, Branam said. For example, two cups of one product could have the same calories as one cup of another.

Although pet obesity is determined by other factors, such as genetics, the environment and medical influence, a standard label would make it easier for vets to recommend portions, Branam said.

Written by The Seattle Times Company