Today Ricky, Kassa and I headed to the field for a New Years romp. The field is looking a little shaggy in places but I think it is actually kind of picturesque. As the boys played I did some reflecting on the past year. I'm just going to mix in some of my random thoughts with some pics of the boys at play. Feel free to ignore the boring words and skim the pics.
For me athletically, 2013 was a complete bust with many lbs gained, but many good things happened in other areas. As in most things you sacrifice in one area to give focus to another. The area that had my focus this year was participating more actively in the local greyhound adoption chapter (Greyhound Pets of America / Nashville).
This has been a real eye opener for me in terms of the amount of effort involved in running a greyhound adoption program and the enormous dedication of the people involved.
Marketing, Fundraising, Special Events, Meet and Greets, Dog Acquisition, Vetting, Fostering, Application Follow up, Home visit coordination and placement are all necessary cogs in the wheel of greyhound adoption.
This year I tried to be exposed to most of these areas in one way or another as well as develop a computer program and database that helps manage the whole process. The program though is just a coordination tool. It is the people that make the organization function.
Things are not always smooth sailing of course. Even though everyone involved wants to work for the benefit of greyhounds, there of course are disagreements on the best methods to use and what the priorities should be. That said I think there has been a real rejuvenation this year with a new sparked dedication to the program. I am extremely happy with the progress we made.
One of the big issues in the greyhound adoption universe is transporting dogs away from the tracks and out into the distant states and communities that can absorb them into petdom. The Birmingham adoption kennel has had a program in place to transport retired dogs out of Birmingham and to adoption groups as far away as Canada, for placement into good homes. A problem has arisen however, in that the adoption hauler used has run its last run. I am very happy to say however that GPA/Nashville and many other groups are assisting in their efforts to get a new hauler in place so that they can continue this critical service. GPA/Nashville is matching funds raised for this effort up to the lessor of $15000 or half the purchase price of the vehicle. This offer is expiring on February 1st. If you feel, as I do, that this is an extremely worthwhile effort please visit their fundraising web page.
2 comments:
I agree, it's a huge job, but the more people you have to help, the easier it is to do. I've heard about the fundraising for the Birmingham group and I really hope that they are successful!
It's good to see you post again, and the boys both look wonderful!
Glad you are all doing well!
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