Peterborough homefinders used a touch of imagination to highlight the issue of re-homing black greyhounds with a “Fifty Shades of Black” theme at last Saturday’s meeting. It proved the biggest and best event to date staged by the Peterborough Greyhound Fund (PGF).
Over half of the greyhounds on the rehoming scheme are black and they are regularly overlooked due to their colour! The PGF committee (Kim, Vicki, Jade, Estelle, Lisa, Sharon and Lydia) decided to host an event dedicated to blacks to allow greyhound supporters at the stadium the chance to get up close and personal with these retired racers.
Guinness, Tiny and Tom met punters at the entrance and thanks to prior advertising on the @PeterboroughGreyhoundFund social media channels a further 11 black hounds and their owners arrived throughout the evening to lend a hand with fundraising activities and meet greyhound fans. Alongside hosting a raffle, PGF members and volunteers chatted to the public while answering questions regarding why greyhounds make such fantastic pets.
The volunteers and retired greyhounds enjoyed presenting trophies, meeting fans ranging from young children to lifelong greyhound fans now into their 80’s, and talking to the public over the stadium PA system.
PGF also bumped into BBC Cambridgeshire’s Kev Lawrence and were able to enlighten him on the amazing work they do to ensure greyhounds find their forever homes once they retire from racing. Peterborough Greyhound Fund raised over £340 during the evening with the public taking leaflets for the PGF supported Barley and Brambleberry rehoming centres. Make sure you come along next time to join in a brilliant night for a worthy cause!
For further details contact: Sharon at Brambleberry Greyhounds on 07843 655003 or email [email protected] or Lisa at Barley Kennels on 01992 890540 or email [email protected]
John Mullins has reported an immediate upsurge in interest after highlighting that his kennel is a rehoming centre for RETIRED greyhounds.
He said: “We noticed that interest declined when we took down the signs showing that they were ex-racers. We are off a main road but it isn’t obvious what we do without the sign.
“So far this year this year we have homed 39, but 14 of those have been in the six weeks since the sign went up. All the credit must go to Sue Bruce, Avril Parky and all the volunteers who make it happen.”
It might have been acknowledgement of his work with the surly Roswell Iceman, who seemed destined to be ‘unhomeable’, but ended up living with a Rotty.
It might have something to do with the new GBGB crackdown on dogs being labelled ‘unfit to be re-homed’ by trainers who realise that they have to take more responsibility.
Whatever the reason, Lincolnshire Greyhound Trust founder Kevin Stow has never had more enquiries about ‘difficult’ dogs.
He said: “The calls have come from all over the place: Central Park, Romford, Monmore, all over the country. Most of those cases were people who were keen to re-home some of the more aggressive types but just wanted help and advice.”
So how many dogs CANNOT be re-homed?
“They all can” says Kevin. “We have never given up on any dog. But, the key is not the dog, it is the owner. Or particularly, identifying the right owner for the right dog.”
So break it down for us.
Stow said: “If I had 100 dogs to be tested, probably 20-30 would pass the ‘cat test’, basically, they could be homed in a house with a cat. All bar 10% could be passed to live in a home with another dog. Those 10% would need to be carefully homed.
“When I do a home visit, I am not particularly interested in the house itself, it is all about the owner. A good committed owner can keep a happy dog in a one bedroom flat. But I wouldn’t let a dog go to a big house in a 100 fenced acres if I wasn’t convinced by the owner.
“Most of the mistakes that are made relate to allowing the wrong owner to have the dog who is in the 10%.
“And despite all the talk about ‘greyhound people exploiting greyhounds’, the worst cases we see, when a dog comes into us in bad condition are from pet owners, not greyhound people. A dog has been homed with the wrong people and doesn’t get looked after correctly, greyhound or pet dog.”
Kevin’s Lincolnshire kennel re-homed 157 greyhounds last year ‘after returns’. So far is 2019, they have successfully re-homed 92.
He said: “We actually found homes for 101, but some came back. Around 10% is completely normal.
“We had a case within the last fortnight when a husband and wife split up. We always thought that the wife was the real dog lover but when she left, the husband insisted he wanted to keep the dog. The dog was “his rock”.
“The lady asked if she could have another dog and she ended up with one of Kevin Boothby’s bitches, Savana Breeze. As soon as the husband heard that she had a new dog, he decided to ditch the original pet. You can’t believe some people!
“The poor woman, who was in love with her original pet, was very apologetic, and asked if we could take poor old Breeze back.
“That kind of thing is not uncommon. It is people that are the problem – not the dogs.”
