Keely

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BLOSSOM

Published August 18, 2019 | By Keely
Dogs Name: Blossom
Date of Birth:  approx: January 2016
Breed:   Sighthound ( Galgo type)
Date came to AfGs care:  27.12.2018
How dog was acquired:  Saved from a Romanian dog pound
Date homed:  May 2019
 

After a long journey from Romania Blossom arrived timid and bewildered and judging by her poor condition and a number of scars over her body she had obviously endured much rough treatment and neglect during her young life.

Luckily we had a very experienced foster home  for her to go straight to where she was made very welcome by her human family and two resident rescued hounds a  Greyhound and Lurcher who all helped her tremendously to gain her confidence.

Blossom soon learnt of the many home comforts she could enjoy and soon made herself comfy on the sofas and the choice of beds in each room upstairs.

She enjoyed her walks and soon bonded with her foster carers and once her body condition had built up she was  able to be let off lead for lots of free running and socialising with other dogs large and small and enjoy the puppyhood she has missed out on.

She is also very good with the resident rescued Guinea Pigs, Ferrets and a Tortoise who also share her home.

Her foster family did an amazing job building Blossom up physically and mentally over the weeks which followed her arrival and…as is often the case… they could not imagine her not being part of their family and so decided to adopt her permanently.

Blossom continues to flourish and enjoys many great experiences, her life is now full of love, comfort, fun and adventure.

OCI

Published August 18, 2019 | By Keely

 
Dogs Name:                          Oci
Estimated age:                     8 years
Breed:                                   Doberman cross Collie type
Date came to AfGs care:    03.10.2018
How dog was acquired:     Saved from ‘ death row’ at a Romanian dog pound by Happy Tails Romanian Rescue
Date Homed:                        03.10.2018 and to stay in his foster home permanently
 
OCI
 
Acquired his name after arriving from his long journey from Romania on October 3rd.
Earlier, AfG were tagged in a facebook awareness message in circulation.
 
Information with a photo of a dogs face appeared stating he was a black male 8 year old Greyhound near the end of his time in a ‘ death row’ block at the dog pound.
 
We assumed from the only image we had to go by that he was not a pure Greyhound but probably Greyhound cross Labrador or Rottweiler, but as we had a suitable foster home available we were able to agree to take him, giving Happy Tails Romanian Rescue the chance to save him for adoption, so they literally saved his life.
 
Imagine our surprise when this dear little lad came out of the transport vehicle, a medium size black and tan crossbreed mainly possibly Doberman x Collie type!! no sign of any Greyhound in him.
 
First reaction was the wrong dog had been delivered to us but it was quickly established that out of all the dogs on the transport ( Oci being the last one to be dropped off) he was the ‘ supposed large black male Greyhound!!).
 
The dear lad was so relieved to exit the vehicle and get out onto the grass and into the fresh air.
 
He became attached to his foster carer immediately not leaving his side. Though of sound temperament, he was bewildered and seemed clingy to his foster dad. So it was very quickly decided between AfG and foster dad that Oci and he would stay together and dear Oci would not be moved on but would settle to his new ‘ forever’ home. 
 
He is a lovely lad and often joins his foster dad at many of our events.
He also helps to settle other foster dogs in who have joined him briefly in his home. 
 

MERVIN

Published June 20, 2019 | By Keely

Colour/Sex: Black Male

Date of birth: 24.12.2014

Last reg trainer: K. Blackbird

Last reg. racing owner:    Dean Blackbird

Races contended: 40

Last rec. race: Sunderland /A2/  15.05.2018

MERVIN    (named for racing as)    BALMORAL ERIN

Came into the care of AfG July 2018.
 
He was lame on front legs and he had a deeply embedded untreated corn on a front toe.
His last recorded race 2 months previous, stated he finished behind the rest and ‘Bumped 1’ ( obviously meaning collided with another competing Greyhound) so likely the cause of his lameness.
 
He was not neutered, had no veterinary records and his inoculations were not up to date.
His overall body condition was not  good, he had bald patches on his chest, behind his ears and over his thighs, had tartar on most teeth, he  had dry skin full of scurf with a lack luster coat.
 
He was a very timid young hound and particularly frightened of men and children.
Luckily Mervin was able to go straight into a very knowledgeable foster home with the company of other rescued Sighthounds which helped him greatly to gain confidence, over weeks and months which followed Mervin has gradually improved physically and mentally though not as bad as he was, he is still wary of certain men especially should they come up behind him.
 
Although Mervin had been trained and used for racing as well as sharing his home with other hounds and children, he also gets along well with several resident rescued Guinea Pigs.
 
His amazing foster family became so attached to beautiful Mervin it was not long before his foster home became his forever home where we hope he can enjoy many happy years ahead full of love, fun and adventure.

PEARL

Published June 20, 2019 | By Keely

Colour/Sex: Black Female

Date of birth: 04.10.2008

Last reg trainer: L.D.Wallington

Last reg. racing owner:    Delahunty-Syndicate

Races contended: 61

Last rec. race: Swindon /A3/ 18.04.2012

PEARL – ( named for racing as)    STIR OF ECHOS

Came into the care of AfG October 6th 2018.

She was picked up on October 4th the day of her 10th birthday, so she had waited all those years to finally find the  loving home she so deserved.

It was obvious by her emaciated condition, her rotten teeth, her overgrown nails and general bad overall condition, including being of a very nervous disposition, that this poor dear hound had suffered many years of abuse and neglect.

History of any previous ‘owners’ since her last race on a GBGB licensed track 6 years earlier are not available as she had no microchip when she came to us.

The people who had her for the past months admitted they had no knowledge of how to adequately meet her care and welfare needs but they had taken her in after seeing her in such a bad state living outdoors, and learning she had been used for breeding, had been beaten and was no good so was going to be shot, so they took her out of sympathy.

They were not willing to divulge any information of where they acquired her from for fear of any repercussion, but were relieved she would be going to a knowledgeable home and would receive the care she really needed.

Over the months which followed after being neutered and receiving much needed dental treatment Pearls physical and mental condition improved gradually and being in a dedicated knowledgeable foster home with the company of other rescued Sighthounds her confidence improved too.

Her foster carers decided to adopt her permanently and hope she will enjoy many happy years ahead of her.The information and photo evidence was sent to the GBGB with an inquiry from AfG as to why one of the Greyhounds bred and used for their industry should end up in such a state of neglect and why she was not micro chipped and what action they were likely to take against the previous owner, but sadly the response we received from them was to inform us she was sold by her owner in 2012 and they could give us no more information about her.

So it seems the GBGB choose to shirk their responsibility for the future welfare and safety of their racing greyhounds once they leave their race tracks and incidentally they made no remarks on her awful condition or asked after her current welfare.

JESS

Published July 23, 2018 | By Keely

Dogs name:  Jess
Date of birth:  2010
Breed: Saluki
Date Came to AfGs care:  February 2018
How dog was acquired:  From stray kennels
Date homed: June 22nd 2018

We were made aware of Jess when she was nearing her end of time at a stray kennels. She had been picked up with a young lurcher earlier.

We are not at all convinced from a story the person who claimed to have found them both, told the dog warden and we believe the person ‘owned’ the dogs and was using the story to offload the pair quickly and at no cost.

Both dogs were microchipped and the two separate previous ‘owners’ claimed they had re-homed the dogs but could not give any details of where they homed them. Unfortunately the microchip laws have too many loopholes and we believe is only effective for people who care about the welfare of their animals. So no action was taken against the persons registered as owners on the microchip data base.

Jess was in poor health when we visited her, she was timid, she had obviously been heavily bred from, her coat was matted, her eyes were sore and infected, her nails were overgrown and she was very run down. Once we had assessed her we were able to sort a suitable foster home for her.

She visited the vet and had her 1st vaccinations, then a visit to the groomers for a much needed bath and her matted hair was clipped out.

She settled in to her foster home and after a short time she went to our vets to be neutered.

The vet was faced with quite a dilemma as Jess’s reproductive organs were in a bad state, she bled heavily and her uterus fell apart in the vets hands. Our vet believes Jess was bred from for most of her life and had recently given birth.

Luckily after complicated surgery our vet managed to successfully complete the operation and Jess pulled through.

Over the weeks which followed Jess’s mental and physical health steadily improved, her beautiful coat gradually grew back and she blossomed into the beautiful hound she should have always been.

Our vet believes we acquired Jess just in time, as had she came into season, or worse had another litter, it would have certainly killed her.

Dear sweet Jess found her forever home with a loving family and the company of a rescued greyhounds and has never looked back.

ITZY

Published July 8, 2018 | By Keely

Colour/Sex: Black Female

Date of birth: 30.04.2015

Last reg trainer: Not found

Races contended: Not found

ITZY – (named for racing as) RIVA RIDGE

Came into the care of AfG in September 2016.

She had been left at the notorious Ennis dog pound in County Clare, then known to have a high ‘kill rate’ of greyhounds and lurchers (mostly after just 24 hours) as they are not recognized as family pets in certain parts of Ireland.

Her trainer left her there stating “it’s no good, it’s too small it won’t win races” she was only 17 months of age and he would have known her fate by leaving her there. Luckily, she was another lucky greyhound to be saved from this place by Clare Greyhound Project. Arrangements were made for her to come to the care of AfG.

Itzy acquired her name (Itzy bitsy teeny weeny) as she was so small for a greyhound weighing only 20kg. She was shut down when she arrived but soon improved once made welcome by other rescued hounds in her foster home.

She steadily improved physically and mentally and blossomed into a happy healthy hound. Her foster home soon became her forever home where she enjoys a life of love, respect, adventure and fun.

GRACE

Published July 8, 2018 | By Keely

Colour/Sex: Black Female

Last reg trainer: Not known

Races contended: None found

GRACE

Came into the care of AfG in February 2016 after being left at a boarding kennels with a £20 donation by the ‘owner’.

The kennels contacted several rescues to ensure she had a chance of finding a home.

Although micro chipped at age 2 the owners details had not been updated so no details could be obtained on her background etc. It is not unusual for greyhounds to not have identifying ear tattoos as not all are registered for licensed racing and many are bred on allotment sites or by ‘back street breeders’ and go on to race on unregulated (flapping) tracks and often for the barbaric pastime of illegal hunting and hare coursing.

Grace did not fare well in the noisy kennel environment and although eating she was losing weight. It was evident when Grace arrived she had an extremely high prey drive we believe this was instilled from her being encouraged and rewarded for chasing (possibly killing) wild animals.

So realizing the planned foster home for an 8 year old hound would not be suitable, Grace instead was placed into a more suitable one with the company of 2 other dogs.

The fosterers continued to work on her rehabilitation and even got her used to the family ferrets and chickens but after 9 months they were not able to commit to foster her for much longer so Grace was moved to a second foster home in November 2016, she quickly settled and her physical and mental health continued to improve.

After a short time, her foster home became her forever home where she continues to enjoy a happy life with the company of other rescued hounds including small dogs.

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