Mid-South Greyhound Adoption Option: 2012 Reunion

Mid-South Greyhound Adoption Option is the adoption group that is partially funded by Southland Park and has an on-site kennel.  As Ricky Bobby raced at Southland, we decided to attend their fundraising reunion this year.  Of course the reunion isn't limited to dogs that came from Southland, but I felt extra motivated to go this year so that Ricky could see his old stomping grounds.

The event wasn't supposed to start until around 5:00 but we arrived around 1:00.  We were told that it is a lot of fun to let the dogs observe the races inside and behind the glass and watch their reactions to everything.   There was some confusion because we were quite early for the event, however eventually things got sorted out and we (and other greyhound adopters) were graciously invited into the kennel club with the dogs to watch the races for some private viewing.

Ricky wasn’t that animated inside.  I don't think that his eyes are as good as Kassa’s are.  Outside where he could hear the sounds and smells associated with a race he was so excited he was hard to control but Kassa was ever vigilant both inside and out.  He was fixated on Rusty (the stuffed bone/lure) that zips around the track.  I wish I had watched more of the races, but I was so fixated on watching my dog’s reactions that I kind of forgot to really take in what was going on.

After the matinee finished we went back to the hotel for a while and returned at 5:00 for cocktail hour.  The dogs milled around as the humans were merry.

We then had the opportunity to walk the track with the boys.    While the dogs walk the track they do an announcement on the viewing floor describing the greyhound adoption program.

Both Ricky and Kassa were super excited and I admit that I had a very strong temptation to unhook them so they could run the track.  I kept my temptations in check however and we went upstairs for the fundraiser dinner and auction.

They had a great turn out at the event and both hound and human were suitably exhausted by then end.

The next morning we went to check out the adoption kennel.  The staff there kept the whole kennel absolutely immaculate and were providing the 'broken leg dogs' with excellent care while they mended in preparation for adoption.  It was really quite an impressive setup.  

These adoption programs are very well run; and they also have large financial burdens. Surgery for a dog that has a broken leg can be thousands of dollars alone, not including the cost of food and shelter. Another huge area of concern, is one of transportation costs. As the landscape of racing has changed, we are now in a position where there are a large number of dogs residing in the east, and a large number of adopters and adoption centers in the west with no systematic, safe, and cost effective, way to transport them. Almost Home for Hounds, located in Nunn CO acts as a way-station for greyhounds on the way to retirement, by providing both housing and medical services including (spaying/ neutering, dental cleaning, vaccinations, heart worm tests and microchipping.) It works closely with adoption groups on the west coast, to ensure that the dogs have a safe transition from their racing lives to their life as a pet. I personally think that much of these medical and transportation expenses should be built into the National Greyhound Association's racing licensing fees; however, I don't think this is on anyone's radar. Until then, these needs will need to be addressed by the adoption community, and the good people who volunteer their time and money to it.

Catching Up

This year brought the unfortunate turn of events where my camera suffered an untimely demise.  It has proved difficult for me to coordinate grabbing the pictures off my wife's camera and getting anything onto the blog while the events are still fresh in my mind.  So this is going to be a great big catch-up post with few words and lots of pics.

Including:

The snake Kassa and Ricky cornered at the grey play field and would not leave alone:

As a result it we had to confine them to our area.  I have no idea what kind of snake it was but I preferred not to experiment with the dogs.

Luckily the next time the group gathered the snake had moved on.

Our mini vacation to the lake, where I grabbed a few scenic shots.  Kassa and Ricky stayed with a greyplay family.  I realized later that we missed Kassa's birthday.  The great thing about dogs is.. they don't seem to mind when you miss these things.

The GPAN summer Picnic

Our friend Lou's dog (Oath) ran for president.

She got Kassa's vote and of course won the day.

There was also a hot dog eating contest.

Needless to say,  although the blog hasn't been that active, Kassa and Ricky have been.  Kassa still wont fetch a ball anymore, (except when he and I are alone at the baseball diamond).  He loves working on stays and recalls though.  Ricky fetches like a wild thing and has taken to eating dirt out of the planters.  He will now jump into high vehicles with coaxing of treats etc but he takes his own sweet time deciding to do it.  His fireworks phobias have receded and he is now eager and ready to go outside.  He is a happy goofy boy, and I think I can see his confidence has grown as has his trust in us.

Memories

A friend of mine recently, and unexpectedly, lost her heart dog.  One of the things that seems to be a bit difficult for her is that as the camera holder in the family, her pics of the dog are many, but the pics of her with the dog were few.  I'm really thankful that there are a few people in the group with cameras and will always have fond memories of this bbq greyplay event.  Here I am having a bit of fun with the pups.

Here is my good friend Tony, drowning in hounds :)

Thanks very much to Diane for capturing these memories.

Giles Express Needs a hand

Recently it came to my attention that Giles Express was "dumped at animal control, with more than 1000 fleas sucking him dry. On the verge of death, he was transported to Knoxville Pet Emergency Center for care"  Giles was an adopted dog who was obviously suffering from neglect.  He is also my dog's (Ricky Bobby's) sire.  If you can spare a dollar or two please consider contributing to Giles' medical expenses.

Donation fund for Giles' medical expenses.
http://sweetiesenior.chipin.com/giles-express-abused-greyhound

Emergency Auction for Giles
http://www.facebook.com/events/417359881636446/

I'm a pretty strong advocate of the adoption system as a whole even though, as some are quick to point out, I don't invest the hours and hours of work to the cause that some do.  I recently did a random survey by looking at all the dogs that raced at a track on a particular day in history.  I then tried to find out where the dogs ended up that were no longer racing. I was easily able to find the dogs that were racing based on the track's website.  I then started doing internet searches and used resources such as greyhound-data.com to find out where the dogs are.  I was able to find 67% of the dogs had ended up in an adoption program using this method. I noticed that the adoption group based at the track does not use greyhound data, so I contacted them.  They act as a central hub sending dogs to groups throughout the states and many into an adoption group in Canada.  My contact there was able to bring the total entering adoption programs to 94% with 6% returning to the farms.  I was elated.  Based on this random sample I can't say that the adoption rate in the USA is 94%, nor can I say that at that track is 94%, but I can say that it is an indication of a successful system and one that people who contribute more than I do should be proud of.  (It has been pointed out that I mostly get together with people and their dogs, drink beer and allow the dogs to run and play, and pontificate online... for which what can I say but.. GUILTY..).

Then news of Giles comes which brings me crashing down to earth.  Even if the system was honed to perfection, there is no utopian solution.  Life is messy.  There are all sorts of things that can happen in the racing world due to the highly athletic competitive nature of the sport, due to complacency and human error, and due a catastrophic failure in the formation of some people's humanity (Ron Williams).  I think what galls me most is that Giles wasn't failed by commercial racing system. He was very successful there.  Instead he was failed by the pet system and, as shown by many animal channel tv shows, many pets are.  At 11 years old Giles is not a young dog.  I'm sure where ever he spends his remaining years it will be a home fit for kings, but I really hope we can set up a reunion where he can see his offspring Ricky and Pickle.

PS.  My actual random sample looked like this:  Started with 112 dogs. Found that 52 of them were no longer racing.  49 of the 52  were found in an adoption program.

I now dub thee Grey Play Grill

A few weeks ago one of the families in the grey play group donated their grill to the field.  Now this opens up a wide range of possibilities of entertainment for both human and hound.  Ok ... mostly human.  Saturday evening we decided to give the grill its first whirl in its new grey play role and I had been anticipating it all week.  The weather forecast looked clear and although not all of our beloved greyplay members could make it we were going to have a good turnout.  On the day of we got a bit of a scare in that some unexpected rain started moving through and was forecast to hit the field right at the time we were to arrive.  But, die-hards that we are we decided to go for it.

As it turned out we got the best of the best.  There was some thunder rumbling now and again and we did get a little drizzle, but that just served to cool things down so that the dogs could get a bit randy.

In total there are few things that I enjoy more than a grill out with friends while watching the dogs zip.  The batch of margaritas that we consumed certainly didn't hurt as well.  

I really can't recommend enough finding a good group of folks to enjoy your dogs with and finding a place to do it.  Everybody wins!