( CNN ) Another of the dogs rescued in 2007 from NFL star Michael Vick 's dog-fighting compound has died after spending her final years in an adoptive household in suburban Richmond , Virginia . Gracie , a black pit bull , died Monday morning , according to Amy McCracken , executive director of the Richmond Animal League . `` This morning , little , old , bow-legged Gracie passed away and got her angel wings . Any words we write here could never begin to express the profound , positive and lasting impact that this little , black pit bull had on so many people who encountered her or heard the story of her suffering and triumph , '' said a post on the animal 's league 's `` Gracie 's Guardians '' Facebook page . `` We are and will be forever grateful for this little , broken black dog and everything she personified . '' The dog arrived at the Richmond no-kill shelter in 2007 and was quickly adopted by the group 's board president , Sharon Cornett , who renamed her Gracie . `` She had been used ( at the Vick compound ) as a breeding dog ... not as a fighter , '' McCracken told CNN . `` She was in pretty good shape when she got here . '' According to McCracken , Gracie attended conferences and meetings about animal welfare and visited schools to show people they have nothing to fear from most pit bulls . `` Gracie was very , very friendly , '' said McCracken , who estimated Gracie was 12 or 13 years old . `` She loved people and was never aggressive to other dogs . '' Gracie was one of some 50 pit bulls seized by authorities in April 2007 amid charges that Vick , then a quarterback with the Atlanta Falcons , was operating an illegal dog-fighting ring on his Virginia property . The case sparked an outcry over brutal treatment of the dogs , some of which showed signs of injuries and other abuse . A federal judge determined the fate of Gracie and the other surviving dogs , who were taken in by animal sanctuaries , shelters , foster homes and adopters throughout the country . Twenty-two of the dogs were sent for rehabilitation and long-term care at Best Friends Animal Society 's sanctuary in Kanab , Utah , while another large group went to a San Francisco pet shelter . One , named Georgia , made an appearance on Ellen DeGeneres ' talk show before dying in 2013 . Another , Hector , became a therapy dog and died of cancer in October . Vick pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges involving illegal dog fighting and spent 18 months in prison before resuming his NFL career . Created by the Richmond animal shelter , Gracie 's Guardians is an initiative dedicated to the welfare of pit bulls , which have attracted controversy because of isolated attacks on humans and the breed 's ties to dog fighting . The group chose Gracie as their namesake `` in tribute to her perseverance and that of countless other pit bulls who have suffered or continue to suffer at the hands of people , yet whose spirits and love for humans remains untarnished . ''
Eventually the pit bull became something of a brand ambassador for her family . The bow - legged dog spent her final years with an adoptive household in Richmond , Virginia .