Main Line Animal Rescue takes its pro-pit bull, anti-Michael Vick message to San Diego

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Pennsylvania-based group Main Line Animal Rescue, which famously opened Oprah Winfrey’s eyes to the problem of puppy mills, has more recently turned its attention to the plight of pit bulls and the NFL career of Michael Vick. Back in September, Main Line decided to try a new tactic to help animals and started taking out newspaper ads in cities where Vick and his new team, the Philadelphia Eagles, were scheduled to play.

The ads, the first of which ran in the Washington Post to coincide with an Eagles-Redskins game, urge animal lovers to ‘Consider volunteering at your local shelter on the day of the game. Spend some time walking, or brushing, or bathing, or hugging a homeless Pit Bull.’ But beyond the call to volunteerism, they also feature a pledge from Main Line: For each time Vick is sacked in the upcoming game, the group offers a donation of five bags of kibble to an area shelter.

The Washington Post ad produced results far greater than Main Line envisioned; dog food donations poured in and, when all was said and done, the donated-kibble tally was measured not in bags but in tons. (In all, four tons were donated to the Washington, D.C., Humane Society.)

This weekend, Vick and the Eagles come to Southern California to play the San Diego Chargers; naturally, Main Line is at it again. The ad above ran in the San Diego Union-Tribune today, and the group plans to donate dog food to a San Diego-based shelter at a later date.

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-- Lindsay Barnett