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.

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.

Colour/Sex: White and blue Female

Date of birth: July 2013

Last reg trainer: D.J.Prentice

Races contended: 2

Last rec race: Mildenhall /A5 /19.06.2015

LACEY – (named for racing as) SOMERSHAM PIXIE

Came to the care of AfG September 2016 after we had been alerted she was being offered on an internet site.

As we were lucky enough to have a temporary foster home available, we managed to take her into our care to ensure her welfare and safety, as she could have quite easily fallen into the wrong hands and her future could have been uncertain, especially with her not being neutered which would have made her attractive for breeding.

The person who had her, told us she been given to a relative by the trainer and then passed on to this person who was also related to the trainer, but who was unable to keep her.
We were told she had broken her hock on the first bend in her last race.

When we checked her racing history we discovered she had 2 races at Mildenhall track 12th and 19th June 2015 finishing 1st on the last race. We were given information of a vets where Laceys medical records were on our change of ownership form, but when we checked there were no records at the vets at all. We were later informed by neighbors that poor Lacey was left shut in the house for long periods and was clearly distressed and barking a lot, they had also witnessed her escaping and running loose, so being at risk near a main road and surrounding fields. So it is no surprise that when Lacey went to her first foster home, she was unsettled for a while. She soon got used to a regular routine and became more contented.

She was underweight when she arrived and had hair loss on her chest and thighs. After a short settling in period where she gained some weight, she was neutered and received other necessary veterinary care. Our vets x rays of her broken hock revealed the hock had been pinned but seemed a bad fracture with fragments from the break re calcifying to the hock bone, which was why the outside of her hock had a ‘lumpy’ appearance. So we expect because she carried on running after the hock broke it caused a more severe fracture. She was, of course never to race again.

After her recoup/recovery period in temporary foster care, Lacey was moved to a more permanent foster home, this time with the company of other hounds, which furthered her socialization and settling.

Sometime later, Lacey found her forever home where she enjoys family life with the company of her other canine pals.

Colour/Sex: Black Female

Date of birth: April 2008

Last reg trainer: J. T. Foster

Races contended: 125

Last rec race: Wimbledon/ grade A7/ 02.02.2013

LILY – (named for racing as) PLATINUM AMY

Came into the care of AfG end of March 2017 at age 9 years, after being earlier found as an unclaimed stray.

She had been found in a bad state of neglect, underweight at only 20 kg, her nails were so overgrown her pads did not touch the ground, she was heavily infested with internal and external parasites and her teeth were in a bad state with some rotten and several loose. Poor girl must have been suffering such pain and been so uncomfortable.

After her nails were cut back as much as possible, and she received treatment for the parasite infestation she had a much deserved bath a few good meals of nourishing food and a good clean soft bed to lie on, so started feeling more comfortable.

Some weeks later she arrived into the care of AfG where her condition had improved but she still had some way to go.

After settling in to her foster home with the company of another rescued female greyhound, Lily continued to improve mentally and physically and after a short settling in period and a course of antibiotics, our vet deemed her in a suitable enough state of health to be neutered and have her dental treatment. She had a dental clean and descale and 7 teeth were extracted, afterwards, Lily must have felt much more comfortable and her appetite continued to improve greatly and she continued to gain weight and general condition.

After a few more weeks in foster care, Lily found her amazing forever home with a loving family who had not had a rescued greyhound before so Lily was so well matched to the family and their home being a mature, though now very much more active girl and with such a kind, gentle nature, she is now carrying on enjoying her well deserved life of love, comfort and respect as a cherished family member.

Strangely, after being used for racing at Wimbledon with a total of 125 races from June 2010 to February 2013 she was found not long after Wimbledon greyhound track held it’s last race meeting and closed down in early 2017.