Post by CampWhippet on Mar 23, 2006 22:02:21 GMT -5
Opening our hearts to retired racers
Rescue group finds homes for U.S. animals Response to high euthanasia rate there
Rescue group finds homes for American dogs
Adoptions save animals from uncertain fates
Mar. 23, 2006. 01:00 AM
VALERIE HAUCH
TORONTO STAR
Jasper, an American greyhound, waited patiently for someone to adopt him. After six months, he got lucky and became a Canadian.
A greyhound rescue group of volunteers got Jasper and some of his Florida racetrack mates trucked up to Canada, where greyhound racing isn't legal.
A Toronto family — Stephanie Eden, her husband, John den Ouden, and their children, Kathryn, 8, Kristen, 5, and Kyle, 2 — adopted Jasper last October.
It took very little time for the 3-year-old ex-racer to feel at home. After a few days at his family's home in the Beach, Jasper decided he wanted to sleep upstairs, says Eden.
"And he has his own pyjamas!" Kristen blurts out when I visit.
"Hey, you weren't supposed to tell her," says Eden with a laugh.
Most greyhounds who come from the track like to sleep in large mesh dog cages, because they're familiar and they feel secure in them. They live most of their racing lives in them, coming out for races and exercise.
Jasper has a couple of permanent bald patches from spending so much time in his crate. The pyjamas — and a coat when he's out walking — keep the lean, short-haired animal warm.
Since 1997, the Greyhound Lovers of Hamilton-Wentworth have been finding homes in southern Ontario for about 30 retired racers a year.
Thousands of other retired greyhounds in the U.S. are not as lucky.
According to The Humane Society of the United States, "a small percentage of greyhounds are adopted, but many more are killed, sold for research or sent to overseas tracks where conditions are far worse than in the U.S. In 2000, an estimated 19,000 greyhounds were killed."
Brenda Aston, adoption committee co-ordinator for the Greyhound Lovers, believes the Humane Society's numbers are high but says there's no way to know because they are not recorded.
But she says most estimates put the number of racing pups registered annually at about 26,000. Most greyhounds only race two or three years, at about 40 tracks in 15 states, before being retired.
In recent years, an outcry against euthanizing retired racers has led many tracks to set up adoption programs, and has also increased the number of adoptions through greyhound rescue groups in the U.S. and Canada.
The dogs the Greyhound Lovers adopt are all examined by a veterinarian at the organization's expense and are neutered, then put into volunteers' foster homes for two to three weeks while they're assessed.
Healthy greyhounds can live 12 to 14 years.
"We check out their profile,'' says Aston."We want to see how they are with people, with cats, with children, with other dogs. Are they shy, outgoing? Are there any issues?''
The Greyhound Lovers then match the dog with a waiting family, and if it doesn't work out, they'll take the dog back. It costs $30 for the initial application, and $350 for the adoption, which includes all shots and neutering.
Very few greyhounds are ever returned, Aston says.
Some people perceive greyhounds to be aggressive, hyperactive dogs of limited intelligence and who need a lot of exercise, she says. In fact, they're eager to please, gentle and rarely bark.
Most greyhounds are happy with a couple of walks a day. Although they like to run and can reach speeds of up to 65 km/h, they do so in very short bursts.
Jasper's good with the children, says Eden, and loves the morning pandemonium as everyone gets ready for school or work.
"He'll just lie down in the hallway, calmly, while everyone's running around.''
www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1142941149381&call_pageid=970599119419
Rescue group finds homes for U.S. animals Response to high euthanasia rate there
Rescue group finds homes for American dogs
Adoptions save animals from uncertain fates
Mar. 23, 2006. 01:00 AM
VALERIE HAUCH
TORONTO STAR
Jasper, an American greyhound, waited patiently for someone to adopt him. After six months, he got lucky and became a Canadian.
A greyhound rescue group of volunteers got Jasper and some of his Florida racetrack mates trucked up to Canada, where greyhound racing isn't legal.
A Toronto family — Stephanie Eden, her husband, John den Ouden, and their children, Kathryn, 8, Kristen, 5, and Kyle, 2 — adopted Jasper last October.
It took very little time for the 3-year-old ex-racer to feel at home. After a few days at his family's home in the Beach, Jasper decided he wanted to sleep upstairs, says Eden.
"And he has his own pyjamas!" Kristen blurts out when I visit.
"Hey, you weren't supposed to tell her," says Eden with a laugh.
Most greyhounds who come from the track like to sleep in large mesh dog cages, because they're familiar and they feel secure in them. They live most of their racing lives in them, coming out for races and exercise.
Jasper has a couple of permanent bald patches from spending so much time in his crate. The pyjamas — and a coat when he's out walking — keep the lean, short-haired animal warm.
Since 1997, the Greyhound Lovers of Hamilton-Wentworth have been finding homes in southern Ontario for about 30 retired racers a year.
Thousands of other retired greyhounds in the U.S. are not as lucky.
According to The Humane Society of the United States, "a small percentage of greyhounds are adopted, but many more are killed, sold for research or sent to overseas tracks where conditions are far worse than in the U.S. In 2000, an estimated 19,000 greyhounds were killed."
Brenda Aston, adoption committee co-ordinator for the Greyhound Lovers, believes the Humane Society's numbers are high but says there's no way to know because they are not recorded.
But she says most estimates put the number of racing pups registered annually at about 26,000. Most greyhounds only race two or three years, at about 40 tracks in 15 states, before being retired.
In recent years, an outcry against euthanizing retired racers has led many tracks to set up adoption programs, and has also increased the number of adoptions through greyhound rescue groups in the U.S. and Canada.
The dogs the Greyhound Lovers adopt are all examined by a veterinarian at the organization's expense and are neutered, then put into volunteers' foster homes for two to three weeks while they're assessed.
Healthy greyhounds can live 12 to 14 years.
"We check out their profile,'' says Aston."We want to see how they are with people, with cats, with children, with other dogs. Are they shy, outgoing? Are there any issues?''
The Greyhound Lovers then match the dog with a waiting family, and if it doesn't work out, they'll take the dog back. It costs $30 for the initial application, and $350 for the adoption, which includes all shots and neutering.
Very few greyhounds are ever returned, Aston says.
Some people perceive greyhounds to be aggressive, hyperactive dogs of limited intelligence and who need a lot of exercise, she says. In fact, they're eager to please, gentle and rarely bark.
Most greyhounds are happy with a couple of walks a day. Although they like to run and can reach speeds of up to 65 km/h, they do so in very short bursts.
Jasper's good with the children, says Eden, and loves the morning pandemonium as everyone gets ready for school or work.
"He'll just lie down in the hallway, calmly, while everyone's running around.''
www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1142941149381&call_pageid=970599119419
