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"Talk about a complete 180! A canine named Cherry who was one of the 53 pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick&amp;#x2019;s dogfighting ring in 2007 has more than recovered from his rough start.Nine years after the pooch was taken from the horrific conditions at the NFL player&amp;#x2019;s Bad Newz Kennels in Virginia, Cherry&amp;#x2019;s life not only has improved dramatically, he&amp;#x2019;s also helping bring smiles and love to everyone he meets.&amp;#x201C;When I saw Cherry for the first time, he looked so alone. He just needed somebody there to give him the time that he needed to recover,&amp;#x201D; owner Paul Fiaccone says in a video BarkPost made as part of its Dog&amp;apos;s Best Day series. &amp;#x201C;He&amp;#x2019;s overcome so much. &amp;#x2026; He wants to be happy. He wants to give back. What he wants to do is love.&amp;#x201D; &amp;#xA0;According to owner Melissa Fiaccone, that&amp;#x2019;s exactly what Cherry does now. &amp;#x201C;This dog is one of the best family dogs you can ask for,&amp;#x201D; she says in the video. &amp;#x201C;He&amp;#x2019;s like a big brother [to our kids].&amp;#x201D;In addition to being a loving family pet, Cherry does community outreach with children to help teach them about animal rescue and compassion.So to thank the 11-year-old dog and his miraculous recovery, BarkPost gave him a day full of his favorite things, and that included adorable little furballs.As part of his Dog&amp;#x2019;s Best Day celebration, Friends of Berlin Animal Control brought several kittens to the Fiaccones&amp;#x2019; home so that the pit bull could cuddle with them in his &amp;#x201C;Kitten Cuddle Fort.&amp;#x201D;&amp;#x201C;Cherry loves kittens!&amp;#x201D; Paul tells the camera. &amp;#x201C;He has two cats now. He loves to play with them. Every time he&amp;#x2019;s around kittens, it just seems like all his stress goes away. He would definitely love to be a kitty nanny for a day!&amp;#x201D; The pit bull also enjoyed a delicious dog-friendly ice cream sundae, had a personalized beer made in his honor, played in a beachy backyard setup done just for him and much more.&amp;#x201C;Cherry deserves a great day like this because he gives back so much,&amp;#x201D; Paul says. &amp;#x201C;He has shown the world that even if you come from a background like he did, you can still go on to become a great family dog.&amp;#x201D;&amp;#x201C;He really is the heartbeat of our family,&amp;#x201D; Melissa adds.Watch the adorable video above to see how sweet, loving and playful Cherry is, and how much he enjoyed his special day."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/pit-bull-from-michael-vicks-dog-fighting-ring-now-snuggles-with-kittens-w430548>