Michael Vick's Doing Fine; His Dog, Not So Much

Michael Vick has served his time and is back to life as a star athlete, but the Dallas Observer checks in on another whose transition hasn't been as smooth. Meet Mel, one of the dogs rescued from Vick's house. "That's him, quivering in the corner. Shaking uncontrollably. Convulsing. The 4-year-old is scared shitless," writes Richie Whitt. (Click on the Observer link to see a photo of Mel with his monkey blanket.)

"He lives in fear," says Richard Hunter, the man who adopted him. (Website here.) "You would too if you'd been beating and traumatized your whole life." Mel had been a bait dog, beaten daily to break his will, then put into a ring so fighting dogs could practice on him. "Mel's come a long way. We can pet him. He sleeps in bed with us," Hunter says. "But he's scarred for life. He's never barked. Never made a noise. There are times when he's just terrified." (More Michael Vick stories.)