Essex based re-homing charity Greyhoundhomer recently celebrated their 2,000th re-homing in less than 10 years when Young Dunphy from Paul Young’s range went home with a couple of the local helpers, Michael Forrest and Andrea Chapman.
Pat Philpot, wife of Harlow trainer Dick, is the driving force behind the Dunton based kennel, though she is always desperate to point to the other 30+ volunteers who keep the place going. The unpaid helpers include everyone from website updaters, to dog walkers, and bucket-shakers at the dozens of fund-raisers every year.
Pat said: “We aren’t attached to a particular track; most of our runners come from Romford, Crayford and Harlow, though all are welcome. We don’t charge to take the dogs in. Some of the trainers, like Paul Young, offer us £100 for each dog, though some don’t give anything. But we do insist that the dogs are neutered, with an up-to-date vaccination and clean teeth.
“We have room for 54 dogs here, and 10 at the kennel in Bishops Stortford. There is a waiting list, though the length of that depends on the colour and sex of the dog. Bitches can be moved on a lot quicker, and unfortunately we have probably 80 per cent black dogs.
“The RGT pay for the kennelling, but we pay for everything else including the coats and leads, muzzles, flea treatment and we arrange the change of the micro-chip registration. I have no idea the total cost of running the place but we are out fund-raising every weekend to cover costs. Its an on-going job but we are up to 46 re-homed dogs already this year.”
Look out for the special RPGTV feature on Greyhoundhomer, presented by Julie Collier on Sunday April 3. The Channel has now moved to Sky Channel 468 and Freesat 250.
