New Welcome Pack for Retired Greyhound Owners
The Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) has launched a new Welcome Pack for owners of retired racing greyhounds to support them as they welcome their canine companion into their home.
As well as general information about the breed and the history of the racing greyhound, the new literature contains a wealth of advice about a greyhound’s ongoing care and how to support their transition to living in a domestic environment.
The Welcome Pack, which has been developed with the support of Greyhound Forum members, has been sent to all homing centres approved by GBGB’sGreyhound Retirement Scheme (GRS) and is available on the GBGB website. It is one of the many education initiatives contained within GBGB’s long-term welfare strategy, ‘A Good Life for Every Greyhound’, to ensure greyhound welfare is optimised during every stage of a racing greyhound’s life.
Since the launch of the GRS, over 11,000 racing greyhounds have been supported by their racing owners and GBGB to find their forever homes. All greyhounds registering to compete at GBGB-licensed tracks must participate in the Scheme. Once a greyhound retires and enters an approved homing centre, the GRS releases a £400 bond to support its care. In addition, GBGB continues to support individual, approved homing centres in the form of grants for welfare improvements.
Gail May, GBGB Greyhound Ambassador, said:
“Greyhounds make the most versatile, laid back and sometimes goofy companions. There is the perfect greyhound out there for every type of house, family or circumstance. Hopefully, this information pack will make the transition from beautiful, affectionate athlete to beautiful, affectionate member of the family even smoother.”
Commenting on the publication, Paula Beniston, GBGB Welfare Manager, said:
“Our ambition is that every greyhound leaving our sport goes on to enjoy a happy, healthy retirement after their career on the track. We hope that this literature is useful for our approved homing centres to share with new owners and will complement the excellent advice and ongoing support they already supply to ensure successful retirement placements.
“This is the first stage of our aim to increase the breed-specific advice and support offered to owners of retired greyhounds. We will continue to add to this Welcome Pack and, in time, we hope to develop this into an online support platform which will be a central information point for anyone welcoming an ex-racer into their home.”
