Keely
MERVIN
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
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- Mervin when he came to AfG bewildered and timid
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- Bald with dry skin and dull dead hair
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- A good groom and a carrier bag full of dead hair removed
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- After 1 month of proper care
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- Happy with canine house mates: Jan 2019
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- Stunning Mervin 7 months on
PEARL
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.
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- Pearl when she arrived at AFG
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- Pearl when she arrived at AFG
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- Rotten teeth
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- Happy and healthy Feb 2019
AfG with rescued hounds on Thats TV Norfolk promoting the AfG 2019 calendar ‘ Sighthound Survivors 2 ‘
SOLI – LURCHER
Came to the care of AfG June 2018.
He is estimated to be between age 3 to 4 years though possibly nearer age 3. He is a rough coated blue lurcher, ( 25kg ) believed to be a mix of Border Collie, Deerhound, Saluki and Greyhound (predominantly Collie/Deerhound).
He had been neglected and not properly socialized, probably not had a real puppyhood. It was obvious he was not used to being in a house or a car.
He is in foster care with the company of a medium size neutered male dog.
He is neutered and fully inoculated. He is now house trained.
He eats well, travels well and is now good walking on the lead, but if he sees a cat or squirrel etc he will get excited and bite through a slip lead so he is always walked on a martingale collar with a chain lead attached to it.
He is a very intelligent hound, very fit and agile. He is a very affectionate boy and loves being stroked and cuddled.
He was not good in heavy traffic at first and reared up a little to heavy good vehicles, joggers and cyclists and people in high viz work gear but we have been working on these issues for some time now and he is adjusting well now.
He is responding well to daily training and improving with all his original issues from when he came into our care.
Due to him not being well socialised or trained before he came to AfG, he is not yet good at recall, so cannot be let of lead unless in a 100% fully enclosed safe area. He is used to a spacious garden in his foster home and enjoys a good daily run and to fetch his rope toy in an enclosed park which he is fortunate to have access to.
He is good with other dog breeds, he enjoys the company of other sighthounds, though a little fearful of large exuberant dogs. He shows very keen interest in cats, especially when they are outdoors and on the move, and although we were first led to believe he is used to being around cats, in our opinion he is far too keen to chase them so he will not be suitable for a home with a cat/s.
He seems to be non reactive to livestock and chickens/geese so we believe he has been around them in the past.
Soli will need a home with at least one quiet gentle dog for company. He will need a home with people who have experience with looking after rescued sighthounds who can continue with his socialisation and further training.
He also needs a fully enclosed secure garden with at least 5ft fence throughout.
JESS
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.
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- Jess when we visited her at stray kennels
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- Jess when we visited her at stray kennels
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- Jess when we visited her at stray kennels
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- Jess after rescue and just a few hours of proper care
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- Jess after rescue and just a few hours of proper care
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- Jess post op recovery
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- Jess getting healthy and having fun
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- Jess July 2018.. happy, healthy and enjoying her freedom
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- Jess July 2018.. happy, healthy and enjoying her freedom
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- Jess July 2018.. happy, healthy and enjoying her freedom
ITZY
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.
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- Itzy when she came to AfG September 2016
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- Itzy when she came to AfG September 2016
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- Itzy Itzy April 2017
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- Itzy May 2018
GRACE
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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- Grace when she arrived to AfG February 2016
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- Grace March 2016 more settled and getting used to little dogs
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- Grace (left) happy and settled with canine housemates
DAISY
Dogs name: Daisy
Date of birth: March 2004
Breed: predominantly Whippet (possibly crossed with Trailhound)
Date came to AfGs care: July 2017
How dog was acquired: unwanted by owner so signed to AfG.
Date Homed: November 2017
We were made aware of a man who no longer wanted a 13 year old lurcher which had been left to him after both parents (who had Daisy from a puppy) had passed away.
We later found instead of keeping her as a loved family pet, he instead banished her to a run down kennels where she was to spend the previous three of her senior years.
(The establishment.. an illegal puppy farm was to become the subject of a media exposure of animal cruelty in February 2018) http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/rosemary-fabb-roughton-puppy-farm-north-norfolk-district-council-1-5409930
When we collected Daisy, (then named Maisy) from a car park in Cromer, Norfolk, she was in season, unsteady on her hind left leg and had a large amount of flea dirt in her coat. We were told she received the injury as a young pup after trapping her leg in a snare. There were only a small amount of veterinary records for Daisy and it seems the injured leg was left untreated.
After 2 weeks in foster care Daisy became suddenly very ill with a high temperature and was rushed to AfG vets who had to carry out emergency surgery after a diagnosis of Pyometra, a life threatening disease of the womb. There is no evidence that Daisy had been bred from and unusual for the disease to appear during a season. With the fast acting expert care from our vet, Daisy pulled through and made a rapid recovery.
Through no fault of her own in September 2018 her foster home failed and she was moved to her second foster home, which shortly after became her forever home. She continues to be happy and healthy, she wears a bio flow collar which continues to minimize any discomfort in her hind leg.
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- Daisy when she came to AfG
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- Daisy recovering after her emergency surgery
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- Daisy happy and healthy at age 14
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- Daisy happily settled November 2017
