Frodo, the last surviving dog to be rescued from former NFL star Michael Vick's dogfighting ring, has died at the age of 15 after spending his last 14 years being "pampered like a prince."
Frodo was one of dozens of pit bulls that went to animal welfare organizations after being rescued by federal authorities from Vick's notorious Bad Newz Kennels in 2007. BAD RAP, the Oakland, California-based group that initially took Frodo in, announced the death of "sweet, shy Frodo" in a Facebook post on Dec. 20, two days after he died by euthanasia.
"He was the last of 48 brave survivors from that game changing case," the group wrote. "The last 14 years of his life were spent being pampered like a prince with the Ramirez family and dogs. Sweet Frodo - How we loved him. He was one of the bravest survivors we've ever met."
BAD RAP noted that Frodo was preceded in death by second-longest survivor Jonny Justice, who had passed away only two days earlier in the company of the couple who adopted him. The group said that another of the last Vick dogs, Uba, died during the first week of October.
Frodo, one of the youngest of the Vick rescues, was adopted by the Ramirez family of Fremont, California. BAD RAP said in a blog post on Wednesday that the family helped Frodo become "a cheerful dog who learned how to prod his favorite humans for attention" despite once being "so timid that he couldn't look his caretakers in the eye."
"He lived his best life with his housemate dogs in Fremont, CA and enjoyed all the canine staples: Car rides, doing fast zoomies in his yard, sneaking up on the bed for cuddles with his adopter Kim Ramirez," the group wrote.
Ramirez, who described herself as Frodo's "momma," said that Frodo had been able to overcome issues caused by his "terrible beginnings," including an extreme sensitivity to sounds, eventually being able to "shake his nightmares and finally enjoy the simplicity of being a cherished family pet."
"Frodo started settling in and started having fewer nightmares and became more comfortable with family life and enjoyed all the perks that came with it," Ramirez said in a statement included with the blog post. "Like taste testing momma's cooking or when a favorite song of momma's came on, dancing (prancing) around with her to the beat."
"Yes Frodo won over all our hearts, but not because he was a victim of a bad beginning, but because he always tried so hard to be brave for his 'anchor', his momma," she added. "And to his momma, he will always be fondly known as the little engine that could."
BAD RAP was not the only group involved in the rescue of the Vick dogs, most of whom were able to live out the peaceful remainder of their lives with families or at sanctuaries. Francis Battista, co-founder of Best Friends Animal Society, said in a statement to Newsweek that the organizations helped the dogs despite warnings that they "were just ticking time bombs."
"In January 2008, 22 most traumatized dogs came to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, in Utah, where the journey to rehabilitate them began," said Battista. "We called them the Vicktory dogs, and their being given a second chance changed the course of animal welfare and the fate of pit-bull-terrier-like dogs and fight bust survivors."
"Helping dogs who had been so abused and mistreated was a long, slow process and took a great deal of time and patience," Battista added. "Eventually most of the Victory dogs were adopted into amazing families, often into homes with other dogs, cats and children... They overcame unimaginable abuse, and, with grace and courage, triumphed."
Although Frodo's early days were spent chained up at Bad Newz Kennels in Virginia, he was one of the lucky dogs who was rescued before he could be used in a dogfight. Vick was convicted on federal federal charges in 2007 and state charges in 2008.
Vick admitted to killing dogs that performed poorly in fights. He spent 21 months in federal prison, received a suspended sentence in state court and was able to resume his lucrative NFL career for seven additional seasons after leaving prison.
Update (12/30, 11:17 p.m.): This article has been updated to include a statement from Francis Battista, co-founder of Best Friends Animal Society.
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