WASHINGTON, D.C. - Best Friends Animal Society today received a 2009 Asset Forfeiture National Award for its “outstanding work with the dogs on the Bad Newz Kennels case (the Michael Vick case).”
This award to Best Friends is in conjunction with 2009 National Leadership Conference for the U.S. Justice Department Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and the Asset Forfeiture Program. The conference focused on the essential role the OCDETF and Asset Forfeiture Programs play in disrupting and dismantling illegal enterprises, depriving criminals of the proceeds of illegal activity, deterring crime, and restoring property to victims of crime.
For the last 19 months, Best Friends has been in the national spotlight for its care of nearly half the animals seized from Michael Vick’s dog fighting operation. Considered the most challenging cases, these dogs would have been destroyed if Best Friends had not accepted them at their 3,700-acre sanctuary in southern Utah. During that time, the dogs have made steady progress, with one dog being recently adopted and another in foster care, the first step toward adoption.
Best Friends launched Pit Bulls: Saving Americas Dog, a campaign to save the pit bull breed’s reputation, which in recent years has been sullied by dogfighting. Best Friends work with the Vick dogs has been chronicled on the National Geographic Channel series, ”DogTown.” Co-managers of DogTown, Michelle Beshmehn and John Garcia, who are featured on the show, accepted the award on behalf of Best Friends.
“We are honored to receive this award,” said Gregory Castle, interim chief executive officer for Best Friends Animal Society. “This honor comes just weeks after what is probably the single largest bust of dogfighting rings in the country and it drives home the complexity of the issues surrounding American pit bull terriers and other ‘bully breeds.’
“We applaud the tireless efforts of federal, state and local authorities to crack down on this horrible crime. But at the same time, we are saddened by the realization that so many of these puppies and dogs face great obstacles and challenges in the days ahead,” Castle added.
“It is our hope that across the country people will step forward, as they did for the Michael Vick dogs and say ‘these dogs deserve a chance at life and here’s what we can do to help.’”
About Best Friends Animal Society: Best Friends Animal Society is a nonprofit, membership organization building no-kill programs and partnerships that will bring about a day when there are No More Homeless Pets. The society''s leading initiatives in animal care and community programs are coordinated from its Kanab, Utah, headquarters, the country''s largest no-kill sanctuary. This work is made possible by the support of a grassroots network of members and community partners across the nation. In 2009, Best Friends celebrates its 25th anniversary.
To learn more, connect and take action on behalf of America''s dogs, please visit the Best Friends Network.
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CONTACT:
John Polis (435) 644-2001, ext. 4858 or johnp@bestfriends.org
Barbara Williamson: (435) (435) 689-0200 (cell) or barbara@bestfriends.org
This award to Best Friends is in conjunction with 2009 National Leadership Conference for the U.S. Justice Department Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and the Asset Forfeiture Program. The conference focused on the essential role the OCDETF and Asset Forfeiture Programs play in disrupting and dismantling illegal enterprises, depriving criminals of the proceeds of illegal activity, deterring crime, and restoring property to victims of crime.
For the last 19 months, Best Friends has been in the national spotlight for its care of nearly half the animals seized from Michael Vick’s dog fighting operation. Considered the most challenging cases, these dogs would have been destroyed if Best Friends had not accepted them at their 3,700-acre sanctuary in southern Utah. During that time, the dogs have made steady progress, with one dog being recently adopted and another in foster care, the first step toward adoption.
Best Friends launched Pit Bulls: Saving Americas Dog, a campaign to save the pit bull breed’s reputation, which in recent years has been sullied by dogfighting. Best Friends work with the Vick dogs has been chronicled on the National Geographic Channel series, ”DogTown.” Co-managers of DogTown, Michelle Beshmehn and John Garcia, who are featured on the show, accepted the award on behalf of Best Friends.
“We are honored to receive this award,” said Gregory Castle, interim chief executive officer for Best Friends Animal Society. “This honor comes just weeks after what is probably the single largest bust of dogfighting rings in the country and it drives home the complexity of the issues surrounding American pit bull terriers and other ‘bully breeds.’
“We applaud the tireless efforts of federal, state and local authorities to crack down on this horrible crime. But at the same time, we are saddened by the realization that so many of these puppies and dogs face great obstacles and challenges in the days ahead,” Castle added.
“It is our hope that across the country people will step forward, as they did for the Michael Vick dogs and say ‘these dogs deserve a chance at life and here’s what we can do to help.’”
About Best Friends Animal Society: Best Friends Animal Society is a nonprofit, membership organization building no-kill programs and partnerships that will bring about a day when there are No More Homeless Pets. The society''s leading initiatives in animal care and community programs are coordinated from its Kanab, Utah, headquarters, the country''s largest no-kill sanctuary. This work is made possible by the support of a grassroots network of members and community partners across the nation. In 2009, Best Friends celebrates its 25th anniversary.
To learn more, connect and take action on behalf of America''s dogs, please visit the Best Friends Network.
###
CONTACT:
John Polis (435) 644-2001, ext. 4858 or johnp@bestfriends.org
Barbara Williamson: (435) (435) 689-0200 (cell) or barbara@bestfriends.org