Pit bulls get new home

Call it a bon voyage party.

Rita, Chewie, Zita, Fatty, Gorda, Callie, Hope and Justice – the group of fighting pit bulls dubbed the Great Eight by animal welfare advocates – are headed to a new home this morning in St. Louis, Mo., complete with a press conference, a crowd of adoring fans and their own climate-controlled van.

The dogs were evidence in a trial that led to Washington’s first animal fighting convictions. The Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service, or SCRAPS, became the dogs’ home after the trial ended in February.

Chewie also was the focus of a burglary when a group of local pit bull lovers “rescued” him from the shelter.

For those who fought hard to keep the dogs alive, it’s a bittersweet ending.

“We’re very, very happy here,” said SCRAPS Director Nancy Hill. “The Great Eight were the victims in this case. And we just wanted to give them another chance.”

“I think everyone here is going to miss the dogs,” Hill added. “But everyone is happy they are going to get rehabilitated.”

With the help of a Pullman woman, SCRAPS and Best Friends Animal Society of Utah, the pit bulls are headed to Stray Rescue in St. Louis. Hill gave most of the credit for the dogs’ new home to Carmel Travis, an associate realtor in Pullman.

“Carmel took a special interest in this case, in fact, she came up for the sentencing in a white-out storm,” Hill said. “She has been calling all over the United States trying to find homes for these dogs.”

Travis estimated she put more than 100 hours into the rescue, e-mailing and calling potential homes, she said.

“I found out about their situation, and I knew they had no voice and wanted to help,” Travis said. “I knew with a group effort, we could do it.”

Best Friends Animal Society – which took in 22 of former football star Michael Vick’s fighting pit bulls – helped every step of the way, Travis said.

“It’s a very positive outcome for the dogs,” she said. “It sets a good example for other shelters, that it’s appropriate to help the victims instead of killing them.”

Best Friends Animal Society, which stars in the National Geographic series “Dogtown,” will be providing the temperature-controlled van for the dogs’ ride to Stray Rescue in St. Louis. The Great Eight’s new home specializes in pit bulls and related breeds. “It was a very collaborative effort by a lot of people to get these dogs this far,” Hill said.

Before they head out the kennel door, SCRAPS employees wanted to pamper the girls and boy a little bit. “We bought them all brand new collars, we gave them all baths … it was quite the process,” Hill said. “Some of the workers have had their pictures taken with the dogs.”