Dogs Deserve Better has done it! We've succeeded in purchasing the former Vick Bad Newz Kennels, with your help! There is still so much work to be done, but this is a wonderful first step. Stop, smell the roses, and pat yourselves on the back. We did a great job!

So far, with very little funding but lots of heart, we have accomplished the following: removed carpeting and installed rubber flooring in the socialization room and the doggie bedroom; created three fenced areas behind the house for play and potty breaks; added another set of steps to the back deck and a divider between the two halves; fenced in eight acres so the dogs can RUN on their walks in the field; helped 22 dogs and counting just working from the house while we continue to fundraise; and created an education room with our materials and books for our guests to peruse.

We have paid approximately $200,000 on the property, and we need to raise another $400,000 to pay it off, plus another $2 million to build a state of the art facility, where we can rehab, house, and train 50 dogs at a time—dogs who've never known any life but a solitary existence on a chain or in a pen. Don't you too think it's time they not only deserve better, but they get better treatment? Please help us make this dream come true for our dogs.

We are also in need of the following items or volunteer help to continue our progress:

• Fencing supplies, 6 foot chain link, poles, and posts. Six foot white fencing for the front as well. We will slowly add to and replace the welded wire fencing we have installed at the current time.

• Fencing volunteers to dig holes and help install fencing around the 15-acre property.

• New or gently used washer and dryer. We have gone through 4 of each in the first eight months, and backups are always good to have. We would like to install two more if we have anyone knowledgeable in this who can help us.

• New or used comforters for bedding. (Cut to dogbed size is ideal!)

• Store merchandise equipment such as racks for t-shirts and sale stands for books and other merchandise.

• New or gently used filing cabinets, king-size box springs and mattress for frame left on the property.

• People beds or couches that are in great condition for our volunteer rooms upstairs.

Anything dog related:
Collars (Prefer Martindale Collars)
Leashes
Harnesses
Dog Food; prefer grain free when possible
Dog Treats
Kuranda Beds
Fencing Supplies:
(we need lots and lots of these things)
Aluminum Fabric Ties
6' Tension Bars
Tension Wire
Carriage Bolts
1-5/8" x 1-3/8" Loop Caps
6 foot high (72 inch) Chain Link (new or used in good shape)
2-3/8" x 8 foot high Chain Link Corner Posts
1.5/8" x 8 foot high Chain Link Line Posts
1-3/8" x 6" Sleeves
Chain Link Top Rails
Tools:
Wire Cutters
Hack Saw
(for additional dog housing, storage, and training areas)
All donations are tax-deductible.

Address: 1915 Moonlight Rd., Smithfield, Va. 23430

View it on video 

DDB has won numerous awards, including first place in the ASPCA/Chase Pet Protector Award, and most recently took seven spots in the 2010 American Dog Magazine Humanitarian Awards, including a first in Rescue Organization Saving Dogs and a first in Voice for Ending the Chaining of Dogs.

DDB's amazing and all-volunteer area reps, over 100 nationwide at last count, rescue from chains and pens and rehabilitate at least 400-600 dogs per year, working only through their own homes or a network of foster homes.

Dogs Deserve Better has been in need of a rehab center for years, but when the economy fell fundraising for the center was put on the back burner to make sure the organization could pull through. Well, we're still here, and it's time to make it happen.

DDB's purpose is to shed light where formerly only darkness existed. By bringing dogs from a solitary, lonely existence to lives of joy and love, where they live inside the home with their very own family, their pack, DDB moves them from a world of sadness to a haven of, to their minds, heavenly proportions.

We recognize that every human being carries darkness in his/her soul. It's whether we choose to act on that darkness or choose the light that determines our path.

Whether Michael Vick and his friends have indeed chosen light over darkness now that they have served their time is something that only they can answer in their hearts; it is not for us to say. (Although we know you all have an opinion!)

By DDB purchasing this property, we desire to bring light to the darkness. We feel there is no greater love for the dogs who suffered here, no greater honor to their memory, and no greater closure to a painful world event, than for a group to come in and take over this property with plans to provide love, joy, training, play, care, and renewal to thousands of other dogs who have been existing in similar circumstances.

It's a coming of full circle.

The property, the former Bad Newz Kennels, was sold by Michael Vick to an investor as soon as the heat started to turn up, and has been sitting vacant ever since.

Seems no one wanted to buy a property with such a painful past.

But DDB would like to preserve the kennel area as a memorial to all chained/penned dogs who lost their lives at the end of a chain or in the fighting pits of this world, and put a amazing facility on the remaining vacant property where chained and penned dogs will be rehabbed, free to run and play, loved, cared for, housetrained, vetted, and find their own new, INSIDE homes and families.

You know what we want to do. Will you support us?

All donations are tax deductible, we are a 501c3 nonprofit organization.

Our Longterm Goal? $3,000,000 to purchase the site, install all fencing around the perimeter and in separate areas, and build a state of the art facility for the dogs.

All professionals who can offer assistance on a volunteer basis to MOVE THAT BUS (a little Extreme Vick's Property Makeover humor, there's not really a bus), please contact us at info@dogsdeservebetter.org.

I'm only just now realizing how important membership is to Dogs Deserve Better as an organization. To you it may add up to a donation with a few side benefits, but to us it provides some measure of sway with the media and other organizations. We’re frequently asked what our membership is, and our immediate goal is to double our membership...the greater numbers we show behind our efforts, the more seriously our efforts will be taken.

Please join today, and ask your family and friends to join, too.
Together we can show the world that we expect chaining to end!

Supporting Memberships

Yes, I want to be a supporting member of the Dogs Deserve Better team! Here is my annual donation to help rescue and shelter needy chained and penned dogs, as well as to educate the public and push toward legislative efforts to protect these dogs.

Student Annual Membership $15.00*
You'll Receive a Membership Card and our Quarterly Newsletter