“Vicktory to the Underdog: Hell and Back,” an exceptional new documentary by famed tattoo artist Brandon Bond, was the centerpiece attraction of The Great Pit Ball, a fundraiser held in Las Vegas on 14 March and devoted to educating the public about the Pit Bull, a breed that has been stereotyped and demonized by society and, of course, made infamous and sympathetic (for the first time) by the Michael Vick case.Hence, the title.
Recruited by the Georgia SPCA, which helped rescue the Vick dogs, and working in conjunction with Tia Maria Torres of the Villalobos (Ca.) Rescue Center, Bond was able to film the rescue but he was not able to use any of the footage until a gag order was lifted - until now.
The resulting film was presented along with a silent auction, a dinner and a rock concert, in Vegas (that's Clint Eastwood and wife, Dina, right, at the event posing with Pixie Acia) to benefit Villalobos. And all proceeds from the sale of the DVD of "Vicktory to the Underdog" will also go help and support the Pit Bull which, as a dog trained to fight, is systematically tortured on a daily basis, both physically and mentally, and, in the case of the females, subjected to forcible and repeated breeding.
"Pit bulls face so many adversaries," Bond says, "that we want people to see how they really are and stop treating them so unfairly.”
Among the many injustices is the breed-specific legislation of some states that arbitrarily causes the death of thousands of innocent dogs.
Frankly, it's the canine equivalent of racial profiling.