Michael Vick has been reinstated to the NFL – under certain conditions.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated Vick Monday, specifying that he will be able to particpate in practices, workouts and meetings starting immediately. He is also allowed to play in the preseason’s final two games. He may be able to play in regular season games as early as October. If he can find a team who will sign him, that is.

Goodell stated in a letter to Vick:

“Needless to say, your margin for error is extremely limited. I urge you to take full advantage of the resources available to support you and to dedicate yourself to rebuilding your life and your career. If you do this, the NFL will support you.”

However, many teams (including the New York Giants and New York Jets) have already expressed their disdain for Vick and say they have no plans of signing him.

Vick has responded to the reinstatement via his agent:

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to commissioner Goodell for allowing me to be readmitted to the National Football League,” Vick said through agent Joel Segal. “I fully understand that playing football in the NFL is a privilege, not a right, and I am truly thankful for the opportunity I have been given.
As you can imagine, the last two years have given me time to re-evaluate my life, mature as an individual and fully understand the terrible mistakes I have made in the past and what type of life I must lead moving forward.
Again, I want to thank the commissioner for the chance to return to the game I love and the opportunity to become an example of positive change.”

I always say that people deserve a second chance, but man, this one is hard for me. I am such an animal lover. And seeing photos of dogs who have been used in dog fighting makes me sick to my stomach and immediately makes me want to say ‘no, he doesn’t deserve it.’

But I do hope he can take this situation and truly make something positive of it. I hope he understands the serevity of what he did and is truly remorseful. I’d love to see him campaign for animal rights.

Do you think he will be signed? Or better yet – do you think he deserves to be?

[KIRO]

The famous Taco Bell dog (Chihuahua) has died at the ripe old age of 15!

The pup, named Gidget, was huge in, what was it, 1999..? And was one of the best known commercial stars of her time.

Yo Quiero Taco Bell!

Gidget died of a stroke, but she will live forever in pop culture!

Her trainer, Sue Chipperton  says Gidget lived out her final years laying in the sun and enjoying retirement. “She made so many people happy,” she said.  “Gidget always knew where the camera was.”

I still have my Gidget refrigerator magnet that my mom gave me back in my single days when I longed for a dog but couldn’t have one because I wouldn’t be home often enough to care for it. Little did I know the dog I would eventually get would look a lot like Gidget, even though she is a Rat Terrier.

RIP Gidget!

[PM]

Dog lover or not, you cannot miss this week’s Star Dog of the Week.

This week I have a very special dog to feature.  You may have heard of her already. Meet Faith.

Faith was born on Christmas Eve in 2002 with only three legs. She was missing one in front.  Her other front leg was deformed. It had to eventually be amputated. The first owner of the dog didn’t think she could live a quality life and considered putting her down. Then along came Jude Stringfellow (an absolute angel!) who rescued her, named her “Faith” and  taught her how to walk upright.

Faith has since been an inspiration to thousands of people worldwide.  A movie is being made about her life!

In the movie, which is set to be released in 2010, Faith and Jude inspire Iraq war veteran and amputee, Monte Miller (a fictional character, but based on Faith’s experiences with others). He was a star college football player for the University of Oklahoma.  He later became a first round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys.  His world was shattered in Iraq while finishing his four years with the Army before he was to report to the Cowboys. Late one night, Monte was hit during a mortar attack. He loses both legs from the knee down, thus ending his football and Army careers. In Monte’s mind, he had lost his life.

The Army discharges Monte because he was uncooperative, negative and not the least bit interested in getting better. Despite being promoted to Captain and  being honored with a Purple Heart, he is severely depressed and loses his will to live. Until he meets Faith, that is.

Faith and Jude inspire Monte and help turn his life back around. Faith’s work does not go unnoticed! She was awarded the rank of E5 Sergeant, Therapy Dog in the United States Army!

An amazing dog, an amazing owner, an amazing movie ahead! We are honored to name Faith as our Celebrity Smack Star Dog of the Week!

P.S. THANK YOU Demi Moore for retweeting Faith’s story!

Learn more about Faith!

Faith the Dog – Official Fan Site

About Faith’s upcoming movie!

Faith’s Facebook

Faith on Twitter

Jude on Twitter

Faith on Oprah

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To submit your star dog as Celebrity Smack’s ‘Star Dog of the Week’, read the rules and enter HERE.

Mickey Rourke and his adorable new Chihuahua puppy, Jaws, at LAX waiting for their bags near the terminals.

Mickey is so rad with his pups. They are treated like royalty and pampered incessantly – as they should be! You can bet that little guy is eating it up. Isn’t he adorable? He sort of looks like Yoda!

In my next life I want to be one of his dogs!

[Photos: ?BAUER-GRIFFIN.COM]

One of the reasons I love the quirky and eccentric Mickey Rourke is because he is a total dog lover, like me.

But sadly, one of Rourke’s longtime companions, a Chihuahua named Loki passed away Monday. She was reported to be 17-years-old. He called Loki the “love of my life” last September.

During his recent Golden Globe’s acceptance speech, the actor thanked his faithful pets saying, “I’d like to thank all my dogs, the ones who are here and the ones who aren’t here anymore. Sometimes, when a man is alone, that’s all you got is your dog. And they’ve meant the world to me.”

Awwwhhh! I just think that is the sweetest thing ever.

Rourke spoke with Barbara Walters recently and explained his love of animals. He said, “I sort of self-destructed and everything came out about 14 years ago or so…the wife had left, the career was over, the money was not an ounce. The dogs were there when no one else was there.”

[E!]

[Photograph: Max Butterworth, Bret Thompsett © PacificCoastNews.com]

As they say, it’s better to be pissed off than pissed on.

Natalie Portman found out the hard way while in New York recently. While stooping down to check out some pups one gave her the fire hydrant treatment.

Unfortunately for her, someone was there to snap a pic.

They say Nat took it well despite the urine on her expensive coat.

Meet Eddie. Eddie is a rescue dog that my husband and I adopted this weekend. He’s about 8 months old and is an American Bulldog mix.

Eddie was abused and used as ‘bait’ in dog fighting. He was found in a parking lot, nearly dead. That was a couple months ago, and he has since been nursed back to health by a rescue shelter foster family. For the first month Eddie refused to move or interact with anyone.

Eddie is doing much better these days and is loving his new home. He’s comical! He sleeps in goofy positions and is totally uncoordinated. He’s a little scarred up but fortunately has recovered nicely.

He needs a lot of training and love, but we have a lot of patience for this little guy.

Just thought I would introduce him since many of you already know my other superstar, Lucy Liu.

Wikipedia describes bait animals (scroll down to Bait Animals)

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Wanna sign my dog’s cute little cast y’all?

Not only did Britney Spears have to hand her children over to her ex-husband this week, now the animal rights group PETA is asking Kevin Federline to take custody of Britney’s dogs too.

PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk wrote to Kevin,

“For the sake of your children and the animals who are at risk while in Ms. Spears’ custody, we hope that you will do the right and best thing for all involved and pursue a custody order for the animals so that your sons can continue to have the company of the animals they’ve grown to adore.”

Source

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Other Celebrity Pet News: 

Jerry O’Connell and Rebecca Romijn’s sad vet trip (CDW) 

Rihanna and her adorable puppy (CWS) 

How about a wig for your dog?

You too, can make your dog look like John Travolta!  Heh.

Doggie wig creator Ruth Regina and her puppy, Wiggles, at the Javits Center in New York.

 Source