 |
|||
See the Events Calendar for our monthly Meet and Greet events and for more details on the special events below. 4/20-22 America's Family Pet Expo 4/21 GreySave Spa Day in Pasadena 5/19 GreySave Race to the Park! Picnic Search GreySave Navigating this site from a touch-screen device
Check out GreySave Greyhound Adoptions on Facebook
Support GreySave when you shop at Amazon by clicking below. How this works. (866) Grey-Save 866-473-9728 |
 |
||
     |
|||
 |
|||
Believe it or not, there was a time when people thought that gentle, couch-loving greyhounds were too wild to be adopted as pets. People assumed that they were high-strung because they were professional racers, or aggressive because they wear muzzles when they race. The bad old days So what happened to the thousands of greyhounds that were retired from racing every year? The vast majority of them, apart from champions kept for breeding and a few saved by their owners for sentimental reasons, were destroyed. Greyhound racing is a business, and when a greyhound stops earning money for his investors, his usefulness is at an end. The prospects for five-year-old greyhound (the maximum retirement age) were pretty bleak.
Adoption groups organize Events in the last 30 years have done a lot to help people understand that a former racing greyhound can be the ideal personal companion. The first American greyhound adoption organization, Retired Greyhounds as Pets (REGAP), formed in Florida in 1982 (the first British adoption group had formed eight years earlier, in 1974). In 1987, a number of REGAP groups formed Greyhound Pets of America (GPA). Many other networks of adoption groups and independent groups have arisen in the last 20 years. The story improves Most Americans are not far from a greyhound adoption group, even if their state does not host greyhound racing. While many greyhounds are still put down when their racing careers end, far more are now being saved than are destroyed due to the efforts of these groups, and the increasing number of Americans who understand what wonderful pets they make. Some estimate that 75% or more of the greyhounds who retire each year end up in homes. The numbers of greyhounds adopted has been growing just about every year in recent years. Greyhound adoption groups typically are made up of volunteers who donate their time and resources to help place dogs in homes. The three main types of groups include those which: 1) Work directly with a racing track, placing dogs into homes directly from the racing kennels, 2) Keep greyhounds awaiting adoption in kennel facilities which they maintain separate from the track, and 3) Put greyhounds into foster homes to prepare them for life in a home. The third approach is the most labor-intensive, but arguably the best way to discover the dog's true personality and to prepare him for home life. Apart from these differences, the various groups around the country follow many similar procedures and set many similar policies.
|
|||
 |
 |
||
