Photo: The Canadian Press

Eighteen alleged fighting dogs that were facing a potential death sentence in Ontario will be sent to the U.S. for rehabilitation after a months-long negotiation to save their lives.

A Chatham, Ont., court has ordered three people accused of running a dogfighting ring to surrender ownership of the banned pit bulls to the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which has been holding the animals since seizing them in October 2015.

The court further ordered the OSPCA — which had applied to destroy the dogs — to send the animals to a special facility called Dogs Playing for Life in Florida.

The Crown attorney, the OSPCA and the dogs' three owners reached an agreement on a solution for the dogs in court last Thursday, lawyers for those involved said.

Dog Tales, a dog rescue and horse sanctuary north of Toronto, pledged to pay for the care and transport of the dogs.

"I am super excited — it has been a long battle and I'm very happy that these dogs are getting this chance," said Rob Scheinberg, who owns Dog Tales along with his wife.

In the fall of 2015, police and OSPCA agents raided a compound in Tilbury, Ont., and seized 31 dogs — all pit bulls. The raid led to charges against four people and later a fifth, much of them weapons and animal cruelty charges, along with provincial charges for owning pit bulls.