500 greyhounds need homes

[Kfamr]

Originally posted by Fox-Gal


I have always wanted a greyhound,

My shelter is usually FULL of rescued Greys.. i'll have to drag you over ther next time you come over this way.

[Fox-Gal]

Originally posted by Kfamr
My shelter is usually FULL of rescued Greys.. i'll have to drag you over ther next time you come over this way.

[pethop]

we are contacting the local shelter and the greyhound organizations... see if we can get them adopted nationwide.

[Suki Wingy]

Originally posted by jcsperson
Have you ever been to a greyhound farm, kennel or track?

no but I watch a pet story on animal planet and they had a few greys at tracks and interviewed a few owners/trainers.

[Karen]

Originally posted by pethop
we are contacting the local shelter and the greyhound organizations... see if we can get them adopted nationwide.

It's not real. Don't bother! It's a hoax/money-raising attempt and is untrue, read the whole thread.

[pethop]

We got their emails back... it's pretty long.

Thank you for inquiring about helping the greyhounds affected by the Plainfield, CT track closing! Most likely you wrote in response to an email that you received.



There is some very good news – the kennel folks at the track were able to get the May 14 deadline removed, so the dogs are no longer under a May 14 deadline to get off the track. Greyhound rescues and animal shelters across our region are working hard to ensure no dogs will be put down. With all the publicity that’s resulted from the emails flying across the country, it is likely that these dogs are no longer at risk of being put down. The public’s eye is now focused on the Plainfield track, and that will ensure the safety of the dogs there.



This track is closing – it’s not a hoax. There are currently 800-1,000 dogs at the track; it’s unknown exactly how many will be going on to continue racing at other tracks, and how many will need to be placed in homes. There will be many, many, many hundreds who need adoptive homes. It will only be through the efforts of all those who love greys that this will happen.



The other good news is that we’ve gotten to talk with hundreds of animal lovers across the country who are concerned about the fate of the Plainfield greyhounds! We have been amazed by the outpouring of caring!



The bad news is that we did not send out an email listing us as a national contact to help the Plainfield greys or asking folks across the country to call or email us to figure out how to help these lovely dogs. We sent an email to a Massachusetts shelter, asking if they could take a few dogs; without our knowledge they edited it and sent it on to other folks, who without our knowledge edited it and sent it on to other folks, who………well, it’s just plain gone all across the country. This has been a good thing because it’s raising awareness about the track closing, and greyhounds in need. But, it’s also been a bad thing, because the email changes every time it’s sent, and usually lists us as the people to contact if you want to help, and contains information that is not accurate (either plain wrong or badly out of date).



We’re just a tiny little shelter doing what we can (we’re so small that we only have 8 dog kennels!), not a group that’s coordinating rescue of all the Plainfield greyhounds. Unfortunately, the deluge of calls and emails from places like Nevada, California, and Saskatchewan is keeping our small staff from having enough time to care for the animals here in our shelter. Again, we did not send out this email, but we’ve been amazed by the support that has been coming in from across the country. We do need, though, to be able to provide care for the animals in our little place!



If you are interested in fostering or adopting one of these wonderful dogs, and you do not live within an hour or so of our shelter in Western Massachusetts (we’re near Umass/Amherst and Northampton), please contact a greyhound rescue in your area.

Remember, any greyhound available for adoption through a rescue group is one whose racing days are over and who is not wanted on the greyhound breeding farms; so even if it’s not a Plainfield, CT greyhound, they are all greyhounds in need of loving homes because their racing careers are over.

To find out more about what bringing an ex-racer home is like, and to learn more about these wonderful dogs, visit the excellent site www.greyhoundgang.com.



In most of the country, there are also hundreds of other dogs of all breeds, who are in dire need, so check shelters near you – they may be desperate for any kind of help to stem the tide of homeless dogs.



If you aren’t able to adopt right now, the best way to help is to send a financial donation, large or small, to your local greyhound rescue group or a national greyhound rescue group. You can find them via the website www.adopt-a-greyhound.org.



If you are interested in adopting a wonderful greyhound and you’re within an hour of our shelter, please come visit! We’d love to show you all our wonderful dogs and cats available for adoption. We cannot ship dogs to meet adopters, so you need to be able to come visit our dogs. If you’re coming from a distance, you may want to call us first to see who is available for adoption before you come for your visit! Our dogs need to be spayed/neutered before leaving for adoptive homes, and this may prevent long distance adoptions; we aren’t able to get enough appointments with local vets right now.



If you’re interested in fostering for us, we need you to be:

- living within an hour of our shelter,

-available to bring your foster greyhound to the Shelter or our local vet to meet potential adopters or attend to any medical needs, and

-available to foster for a minimum of two months; shorter foster periods will not allow us to pull more dogs from the track.



If you aren’t located within an hour of our shelter, we encourage you to help local animals! There are animal shelters and greyhound rescues all across the country helping animals that need you!



We would like to thank the wonderful people who have begun adopting and fostering greyhounds from our shelter, and all those helping other Plainfield greys with other rescue and adoption groups.



Thank you for caring about these wonderful dogs. Please support animal rescue near you! It’s only through the combined efforts of all of us that we can make a difference to all the pets who need our help.



Please, forward this information to whomever you received the other email from; we’re trying to get the word out to folks who want to help that there are lots of ways to help – mostly involving your local rescues! Please do not edit this email but rather send or post the whole thing (we’ve had too much trouble with edited emails already this week!).



Thank you for caring about these wonderful dogs.

Karina King
Dakin Animal Shelter
www.dakinshelter.org
May 5, 2005

[lizbud]

Quote:


"We’re just a tiny little shelter doing what we can (we’re so small that we only have 8 dog kennels!), not a group that’s coordinating rescue of all the Plainfield greyhounds. Unfortunately, the deluge of calls and emails from places like Nevada, California, and Saskatchewan is keeping our small staff from having enough time to care for the animals here in our shelter. Again, we did not send out this email, but we’ve been amazed by the support that has been coming in from across the country. We do need, though, to be able to provide care for the animals in our little place!



If you are interested in fostering or adopting one of these wonderful dogs, and you do not live within an hour or so of our shelter in Western Massachusetts (we’re near Umass/Amherst and Northampton), please contact a greyhound rescue in your area.

Remember, any greyhound available for adoption through a rescue group is one whose racing days are over and who is not wanted on the greyhound breeding farms; so even if it’s not a Plainfield, CT greyhound, they are all greyhounds in need of loving homes because their racing careers are over.

To find out more about what bringing an ex-racer home is like, and to learn more about these wonderful dogs, visit the excellent site www.greyhoundgang.com.



In most of the country, there are also hundreds of other dogs of all breeds, who are in dire need, so check shelters near you – they may be desperate for any kind of help to stem the tide of homeless dogs. "


I'm still glad the track is closing & look forward to the day this
practice of racing dogs for gamblers exists only in history books.
Greyhounds will do just fine without "racing to live" instead of
loving to run for their own enjoyment.

[pethop]

so... it's a hoax or not? i am confused. we tried to call them, but no one answers the phone.

[Vette]

Its all a hoax?

[lizbud]

AP Connecticut
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rell calls for protection of dogs at Plainfield track



May 4, 2005, 1:33 AM EDT


HARTFORD, Conn. -- Gov. M. Jodi Rell on Tuesday called on the prospective new owner of the Plainfield Greyhound Track to protect the dogs as the operation prepares to close.

Officials at the state's oldest pari-mutuel, which opened in 1976, told workers and kennels last Wednesday that dog racing will end in mid-May.

The track has faced strong competition for entertainment dollars from two nearby American Indian casinos, and plans are in the works to build a domed auto racetrack on the dog racing property.

Off-track betting on dog and horse races across the country will continue for a limited time at the track's simulcast facility.

"I need your assurances that every effort will be made to relocate these beautiful animals to either another adequate racing venue or to ensure that new loving homes are found for them," Rell said in her letter.

New England Raceway developer Gene Arganese of Trumbull, who obtained an option to purchase the dog track last year, has said he halted greyhound racing to begin construction of a new facility. He plans to apply for a transfer of the park's dog track license next year.

On Tuesday, he said he would release his plans for the dogs in a few days and would not comment on Rell's letter.

However, the track's executive vice president said Tuesday that the track will be using available resources to ensure the greyhounds' safety. Karen Keelan said the dogs will be sent to other racetracks, be returned to their farms or owners for breeding or placement in an adoption program or be placed in homes as pets.

"Greyhound welfare is our first priority and we will keep the kennel area open until the greyhounds are suitably placed," Keelan said.

The governor said she has instructed the Division of Special Revenue and the Department of Agriculture to work with track owners and animal rescue organizations to "make certain that every statute and regulation regarding animal health and welfare is enforced."

She said she also has directed the Department of Labor to help affected employees with job search assistance, retraining and other services.

"The greyhounds deserve some measure of protection as well," Rell said.

[jcsperson]

Originally posted by Suki Wingy
no but I watch a pet story on animal planet and they had a few greys at tracks and interviewed a few owners/trainers.

That's not exactly first-hand experience. You are very lucky that the radical Animal Rights crowd hasn't latched onto your sport and brutalized and lied about it in the worst possible way as they've done with greyhound racing.

I find it ironic that Ferdinand, winner of the 1986 Kentucky Derby, ended up in a can of dog food like many of his brethren, but nothing is heard about it. There was not one peep from the Animal Rights crowd. Horse racing is shown on TV, the trainers and breeders are respected, even revered by the media, and TB racing's warts and bumps are completely ignored by them and Animal Rights groups.

The AR crowd that feeds the media propaganda about greyhound racing knows little or nothing about greyhounds yet it is their shrill, PETA-like tactics that get the media's attention. They can make up anything they like and it gets printed without an ounce of research by reporters.

If you love TB racing pray every night that greyhound racing doesn't die. With nothing left to protest those activists will latch onto something. It should also be noted that a large percentage of the "handle" in racing, the amount bet on horses and dogs, is through remote betting, OTB parlors and other tracks. The last time I was at Tri-State there was a whole room full of people playing the ponies.

[jcsperson]

Originally posted by pethop
The bad news is that we did not send out an email listing us as a national contact to help the Plainfield greys or asking folks across the country to call or email us to figure out how to help these lovely dogs. We sent an email to a Massachusetts shelter, asking if they could take a few dogs; without our knowledge they edited it and sent it on to other folks, who without our knowledge edited it and sent it on to other folks, who………well, it’s just plain gone all across the country. This has been a good thing because it’s raising awareness about the track closing, and greyhounds in need. But, it’s also been a bad thing, because the email changes every time it’s sent, and usually lists us as the people to contact if you want to help, and contains information that is not accurate (either plain wrong or badly out of date).

Karina King
Dakin Animal Shelter
www.dakinshelter.org
May 5, 2005

Karina,

I'm sorry, but I smell a rat here. The posts I saw on sites like GreyTalk and WatchMyHound were verbatim copies of what was posted on your web site. The ones I saw were essentially unaltered from your 5/01 news item ("500 Dogs to Die!") which I posted earlier in this thread. That is not a copy of an e-mail, but your group's words.

I suspect that the "experienced greyhound rescuer" was the person who fed you the bogus information you published. I also suspect they sent that same info from group to group to person to person. Once it achieved critical mass it went to every corner of the greyhound world overnight. That outfit has branches in NJ, NC and elsewhere. They have always played fast and loose with the truth when it comes to greyhound racing. If indeed you were duped by them you will not have been the first.

Martin

[Kfamr]

-deep sigh- Not this again.

[cali]

Martin, I believe what pethop posted was the e-mail she recieved...either that or I am misintpreting somebody lol

[dukedogsmom]

Oh good grief! Karen, please lock this thread before all that gets started again.