Red is one of 47 dogs rescued last year from Michael Vick's illegal dog fighting operation in Virginia. His face and body are still covered with scars of that abusive life but now red is battling a new enemy: cancer.
"We noticed some growths on him, we had them biopsied our veterinary Dr. Carol Edia downstairs did the biopsies and we found they were malignant," said pet behavior specialist Amanda Mousset.
In all seven tumors were removed, five were cancerous.
Red will need six months of chemotherapy before he is officially declared cancer free. He is now one month into that process.
Part of Michael Vick's restitution was to pay for the long-term care of the dogs on his property so Red's medical bills are covered.
"I accept responsibility for my actions and accept the consequences," said Michael Vick in August 2007.
The former NFL star is now serving a 23-month prison sentence. The SPCA says the vick case proved to be a landmark one for pit bulls.
"In the past when dog fighting rings were broken up, the dogs were automatically euthanized. But in this case, each dog was assessed as an individual and a dogs like Red really shows that's the way it should be he's a great dog," said Beth Brookhouser from the Monterey County SPCA.
Despite his painful past, Red's disposition is so good the SPCA for Monterey County is now using him in training sessions to help calm and socialize other dogs. Red is also on his way to becoming a therapy dog to help comfort people.
"He has so much we can do with him which is awesome it's not very often we get so much possibilities with a dog like this," said Mousset.
Red was once victimized because of his breed, now with Amanda Mouisset as his foster mom, he will get the life he deserves and be an ambassador for the breed.
