Rehabbing Michael Vick's pit bulls

One of the most reprehensible hot-button news stories my former profession likes to publish is the one headlined "Pit Bull Attacks (Child) (Old Woman) (Old Man) (Owner) (Cop)" -- you fill in the victim.

If a cocker spaniel -- the breed vets will tell you bites the most -- does a number on a neighbor child, do you ever read or hear about it? Of course not. The magic words "pit bull" just aren't there to rile up the readers, the way "communist" used to and "illegal alien" does now.

There is considerable evidence that the breed has been unfairly maligned, and now and again a newspaper does the right thing and illuminates the underlying issues. The Washington Post did so yesterday in an article about the rehabilitation of Michael Vick's fighting pit bulls.

Bravo.