This is SOOO sad... Greyhounds for Adoption

My old boss' friend runs the shelter and sent this email to everyone... It's long, but it tells alot!! Website & phone #'s in the text below:


I don't if any of you are actually in the market for a greyhound, but perhaps you'll know someone who would want one and in this case time is of the essence so I took the liberty of spreading the word.

The greyhound track in Plainfield, CT voted on April 26th that they would
discontinue greyhound racing. Unfortunately - and heartbreakingly - they've
also decided that rescuers have only two weeks to get the dogs out, and any
dogs remaining at the track on May 14th will be euthanized. This is a
monumental task because there are at least 500 dogs currently at the track.
These are all young, healthy dogs, 2-4 years of age, who would make great
family pets.

Why is the track doing this? Greyhound racing is a business and because the
track is no longer profitable, they're getting out. To us, dogs are
cherished companions. To the greyhound racing industry, dogs are expendable
commodities to be disposed of in whatever way is least expensive and most
convenient when they aren't making money.

We've committed to saving as many dogs as we possibly can in the next two
weeks. We'll be working with an experienced greyhound rescuer who has been
placing retired greyhounds for many years. She will be going to the track
and bringing us dogs. As soon as we have more room, we'll do it again. We
will repeat as many times as we can before May 14th. After May 14th, there
will be no dogs left alive at the track.

In order to save as many dogs as we can, we are going to try something we've
never done before; sending as many as possible out into foster care by May
14th. Every time we send a dog into an adoptive home or a foster home, we
can take another dog off the track. We will take the fostered dogs back into
the Dakin Animal Shelter for adoption over the next few months as spaces
open up for them - as long as they're off the track by May 14th, they'll be
safe.
*
How can you help?*

*Adopt a greyhound!!!!
*They're wonderful dogs - gentle, quiet, sweet, and
graceful. The ones we'll be getting will be good companions with other dogs
and with cats. Surprisingly, they're couch potatoes. They do need to be in a
fenced area or leash walked; they aren't dogs to let run loose. For
information on what it's like to take a greyhound home, visit

*www.greyhoundgang.com

To find out what greys we have available for adoption, call us at
413-548-9898 or visit our
dog adoption page.*

*Foster a greyhound
*If we can send greys into foster care and out of our
Shelter, we can pull more from the track before May 14. We'll get them back
into the Shelter over the next few months. We will provide all their medical
care and a crate to make their transition easier. You provide your time &
love and together we will give them a new life!

For information on what it's
like to take a greyhound home, visit www.greyhoundgang.com
If you can help, or are interested in more
information, contact us at 413-548-9898.
*
*Spread the word!
*The more people who know about this tragedy, the more help the dogs
will get.

Many of you have seen greyhounds in the community - they're lovely, gentle
dogs. When we started working with greyhounds, we discovered that there are
a lot of misconceptions about them.

Greys are not hyper - they're actually couch potatoes!
They love to run - for about 5 minutes - in a safe, fenced area.
Greys spend most of their day snoozing and adore soft sleeping places and
all the comforts in life.
They are actually very good dogs for apartments or small homes because of
their low activity level.
They are very clean dogs, and in some ways are very catlike in their
cleanliness and love of comfort.
Most greyhounds - including all the ones we'll be getting - can live with
other dogs and cats, once they've been introduced, and actually love living
with other animals.
They rarely bark and shed little.
In their life on the track, they live in crates for 22 hours per day, so
most things in the 'real world' are a surprise to them.
They've never seen simple things such as: slippery floors (wood, tile);
stairs; television; windows; cats; dogs who are not greyhounds!
They generally housebreak very easily because they're completely crate
trained (they aren't housebroken because they've never been in a house, so
they have to learn what a house is!).
They walk very, very politely on leash - they learn that at the track.
Greyhounds are very good companions for homes with gentle children because
of their own gentle nature.
This is a tragedy of enormous proportions, and we've decided to throw
everything we've got into doing as much as we can. It's easy to get
overwhelmed thinking about the scope of the problem - and do nothing. If we
instead work together as a community, we CAN make a difference. The Dakin
Animal Shelter has always relied upon our community for our support, and
we're counting on you now. With your help, we WILL make a difference.

Re: This is SOOO sad... Greyhounds for Adoption

That's so sad! I wish we could adopt one, but unfortunately we can't.

Re: This is SOOO sad... Greyhounds for Adoption

So funny you posted this -

DH"s brother and SIL were saying they recevied this email from friends, and they are seriously considering adopting a Greyhound. But they have 3 small children under the age of 7 and they wanted to do some research to see how the Greyhound breed is around children, especially very ACTIVE, somewhat "active" children (ages 7, 4 and 15 months)

So sad - I hope that many of them are adopted!

Message edited 5/11/2005 11:36:00 AM.

Re: This is SOOO sad... Greyhounds for Adoption

I've always wanted to adopt a greyhound - FI and I have discussed it a lot (but with a pit bull and a lab, we just don't have the room right now - and our yard is too small - and the pit bull would try to kill it). My uncle has adopted 6 rescued greyhounds over the years, and they are great dogs. They all seemed so grateful for being "saved".

Maybe one day....

Re: This is SOOO sad... Greyhounds for Adoption

Greyhound Update (5/9/05)
Great news! The greyhounds at the Plainfield, CT track that is closing Are no longer under a May 15th deadline, and greyhound rescues and animal shelters across the region are working hard to find homes for all the retiring racers.

It is still unknown how many dogs are at the track, and of those how many will be continuing to race at other tracks, and how many will need to be placed in homes.

If you've received an email or seen a web posting that had our shelter's information listed as the contact group about helping the Plainfield greyhounds, please be aware that the Dakin Animal Shelter did not write or send these emails. Some well-meaning folks who thought they were helping, created and sent them.

Unfortunately, the emails contain information that is very outdated and no longer accurate. Also, it's vital that people who are not in our immediate area work with their local greyhound rescue. You can find your local rescue greyhound group on via the website www.adopt-a-greyhound.org, or shelters in your area working with greys at www.petfinder.org.

If you've tried to call us on the phone in the last week, you've also found out one of the other problems associated with the proliferation of emails bearing our information; with the volume of calls from places such as Saskatchewan and Texas - many hundreds of them per day - it's nearly impossible to get through on one of our three phone lines. We hope that this will lessen in the near future.

As of 5/6/05, the Plainfield greyhound track will no longer release greyhounds to the rescuer who was pulling greyhounds for us. We are told that this is because they are displeased with the emails circulating with our shelter's name and the information previously posted on our website.

It's unknown whether we will be able to help any more dogs from the Plainfield track at this time.

If you've contacted us in regard to fostering a greyhound, thank you for your kindness! If we are able to have new greys arrive at the shelter and are in need of more foster care, we will be in touch with you.

Karina King
Dakin Animal Shelter
www.dakinshelter.org