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Years ago, police in Ontario rescued 31 sickly dogs from a suspected fighting operation. They were pit bulls, a “breed” long since banned in this Canadian province, but they were also evidence in a court case, so they were remanded to an undisclosed shelter while a court determined what would happen.

As often goes in the realm of the legal, they waited a long time.

The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) pressed for all of them to be put down, arguing that as they had only known violence, they were a lost cause.

Dog Tales Rescue and Sanctuary, however, asked for the dogs to be released into their care, where they could be rehabilitated and eventually find their way to real families.

Along the way, one of the dogs who had arrived to the shelter pregnant, added 8 new puppies to the controversy.

Finally, in July of 2017, a judge made a ruling. The dogs (except for one deemed too dangerous and two who died while in custody) would be released into rescue and hit the long road to rehabilitation.

One of the roads led all the way to Jacksonville, FL, where 14 of the dogs landed in the care of a rescue called Pit Sisters. A few of them were from the litter born at the shelter.

“They only knew a shelter life,” Jen Deane, founder of Pit Sisters, told Mother Nature Network.

In early assessments, one of those puppies — a dog named Dallas — drew attention.

“The more we worked with him, the more we thought he should be a police dog,” Deane said.

So trainers spent a few days testing him and they eventually connected with someone from the Throwaway Dogs Project, a Philadelphia organization specializing in dogs often seen as beyond help — and turning them into police dogs.

Dallas, of course, was just a pup. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but rather was guilty by association — for his breed.

Throwaway Dogs founder Carol Skaziak, along with a team of behaviorists, headed to Jacksonville, where they spent several days testing Dallas.

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“The first thing I saw in Dallas was a very lovable dog that enjoyed being around humans,” Skaziak told MNN. “Then what I saw was a dog that had extreme play drive.”

It’s a skill Skazniak looks for in candidates for the program.

“Believe it or not, I feel that if we were on top of the Empire State Building, and we threw the ball over the edge, he would go after the ball.”

Not the best quality for a family pet, but for police dogs, it’s essential.

“With every day that passed, I was becoming more and more in love with this dog,” Skaziak recalls. “I thought, ‘This is probably going to work out for us. This is a homerun.’”

But there was one crucial strike against Dallas: He was deathly afraid of cars — so much so that he couldn’t bring himself to get inside one.

On their way back to Pennsylvania, the trainers told Deane if Dallas could get over that fear, they would try to land him a job as a K9.

Not long afterward, Deane — a trainer with a gift for bringing out the best in dogs — sent Throwaway Dogs a video of Dallas jumping in and out of cars with unflinching enthusiasm.

Dallas was officially in the program.

Dallas the pit bull profile
Dallas is on his way to Pennsylvania to start training for his new job. (Photo: Pit Sisters)
Not long after that, Deane got a text message: A police department in Virginia had offered Dallas a job.

And all of a sudden, the dog who nearly never left that secret shelter in Ontario — a dog who was born a victim — will now spend the rest of his life standing up for them.

With a lot of people cheering for him along the way.

“We have a whole town that’s excited,” Skaziak says. “We’re just thrilled. We can’t wait to start training him.”

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An investigation is underway after police discovered an active dog-fighting operation in South Philadelphia, FOX 29 reported.

Upon arrival, cops had to break up a dog fight in progress. Police recovered a wooden fighting ring, spattered with blood, along with two firearms and a large amount of cash. Fourteen individuals were arrested and the two dogs, described as “pit bull-type dogs” were immediately taken in by the Pennsylvania Society for the Protection of Animals’s shelter hospital on Erie Avenue to begin the recovery process.

Both dogs were reported to be stable condition and will remain with the PSPCA until they are signed over by their owners or the adjudication of the court case. Activity related to dog-fighting is a felony.

Later this past weekend, as police executed a vehicle search warrant related to the case, officer discovered two additional dogs, one wearing a weighted collar and another which appeared ill, and immediately took them into custody, as well. Both underwent medical assessment and treatment at the shelter.

“Cases like this remind us that while we may not always hear about it, dog fighting is still happening in the city of Philadelphia,” said Nicole Wilson, Director of the Humane Law Enforcement at the PSPCA. “Our team has boots on the ground 365 days a year, investigating cases like this, and working to bring those involved to justice.”

Anyone with information about this case should call the PSPCA’s Cruelty Hotline at (866) 601-SPCA. Tips can be left anonymously.

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In 1980, at the age of 21, Malcolm Alexander was convicted of rape and sentenced to life in prison. From day one, he proclaimed his innocence and has maintained it in the decades since.

When the Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal organization dedicated to exonerating the wrongfully convicted, got behind Alexander’s case in 1996, they fought long and hard and this year, on January 30, he walked free from Louisiana’s infamous prison at Angola, absolved by DNA evidence. He is now 58.

But he’s not alone.

The day after leaving prison, Alexander was gleefully reunited with Innocence (“Inn” for short), the black Lab he raised while incarcerated.

“You ain’t got nothing to worry about no more…. I told you they was gonna get us out,” he told the 9-month-old pup.

Inn was delighted to see her old friend, rolling over for tummy rubs. She had spent an additional night at Angola; Alexander had left her, along with other belongings — but Vanessa Potkin, an attorney with the Innocence Project, returned to bring her home to her human.

Watch the ENTIRE reunion here:

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The dog was born at the prison to another dog, the runt of a litter of 10. She lived at Alexander’s work sites: the metal shop and wood shop. He fed her and cared for her.

“To have a dog is a privilege,” he told TODAY. “It makes the world different.”

Alexander also returned home by his 82-year-old mother, his son and grandson (both named Malcolm) and other relations. He learned carpentry, woodworking and jewelry-making during his time in prison and hopes to be working very soon. Alexander and Inn will be staying with his son’s family until they get a place of their own.

“I feel beautiful,” Alexander said. “I feel happy. Very happy.”

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Amid all the reporting surrounding the sentence hearing of former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, there has been a silent, sweet bit of comfort on hand for all the victims who came to speak out.

Preston, a black Labrador retriever, has been stationed outside the courtroom at the Ingham County Court in Lansing, MI, during the testimony.

Preston is a trained therapy dog. He regularly interacts with children and youth who are survivors of physical and sexual abuse during their counseling sessions. He does the same in court, supporting kids when they testify.

“It’s kind of a signal to him that he’s on the clock, so to speak,” Alex Brace, executive director of Small Talk Children’s Assessment Center, told the Lansing State Journal. “Once he takes off his bandana, it lets him know he can go back to being a puppy who’s just wagging his tail and playing around.”