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For the first time since suspended NFL quarterback and former Hokie football star Michael Vick was sent to prison for funding and operating a dog fighting organization, the media will get a look at 22 of the dogs who were rescued from Bad Newz Kennels.

According to the press release, the dogs, mostly pit bulls and pit bull mixes, are learning that a dog’s life should consist of playing, eating, sleeping and belly rubs.

The dogs are being cared for at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary near Kanab, Utah. Best Friends is the nation’s largest no-kill animal rescue facility and the setting for the National Geographic Channel's documentary "Dogtown."

I wish I could be there but travel funds for a pet blogger are extremely limited. Mileage to the cat show this weekend may have, in fact, blown my budget for the year.

Other dogs saved from Vick's house of horrors in Surrey County have been rehabilitated by other rescue groups and have already been placed in loving homes. All news accounts indicate that only one of the Bad Newz dogs was too aggressive to be rehabilitated and had to be euthanized.

What can you do to help? You can call your state legislators and tell them you support bills that toughen penalties for dog fighting in Virginia. And you can donate money to rescue groups who helped to save these dogs and other abused animals.