Colour/Sex: Black Female

Last reg trainer: J M Ray

Last reg. racing owner:  Not Known

Races contended: Not Known

Last rec. race: Not Known (poss Henlow)

TILLY (named for racing as Human)

Tilly came into the care of AfG in January 2020.

Tilly was one of several Greyhounds picked up from a Norfolk racing
kennels after concerns by owners who had Greyhounds there as the trainer
had lost her racing license due to animal welfare issues at the kennels.

Many of those Greyhounds were retired by the owners so they could go
into rescue kennels.

Tilly, along with another Greyhound was one of those fortunate Greyhounds.

After a veterinary check and immediate flea treatment with worm
treatment to follow and a start of her vaccination course, Tilly was
able to go into a waiting foster home with another rescued Greyhound boy.

Tilly was very wary of men and of traffic but she settled in happily to
her foster home with hound companion George.

She became quite a bossy girl and was very greedy, always looking for food.

Her foster carers quickly decided she would fit in well and so adopted
her permanently.

AfG paid for her following veterinary treatment and neutering and a dental.

Tilly then continued to enjoy life in a happy comfortable home full of
love and fun.

Tilly has now become the hound boss of the home.. cheeky girl

Colour/Sex: White and black Female

Date of birth: 21.04.2009

Last reg trainer: Mr W Bradley

Last reg. racing owner:  Mr W Bradley

Races contended: Not Known

Last rec. race: Not Known

INGRID (named for racing as Jessica Lady)

Came into the care of AfG in October 2019, she had already been rescued
and under the care of Clare Greyhound Project (now renamed WAGI..We
Adore Irish Greyhounds).

AfG had already worked with this rescue several times.

We had met a lady on one of our events who said her father had rescued
several Sighthohounds over many years and had recently lost his little
Whippet cross.

She was concerned what would happen to a rescue dog should anything
happen to her dad or he became unable to care for a dog.

We discussed the possibility of AfG arranging for her dad (after an
initial home check) to have one of our hounds on a ‘ permanent foster’
agreement whereby AfG covered the costs of all food, sundries and
veterinary care and if at any time we or her dad decided Ingrid could
not be well cared for then AfG could take her back into one of our other
foster homes.

We agreed if we found an older but fit for age hound we would get back
in touch.

So CGP had an ideal Greyhound, although age 10 she was very sprightly
got on well with children and adults traveled well ate well and got on
with all other dog breeds so this was good as often members of the
family would visit with their dogs.

So once the neccessary procedures were covered in Ireland, Ingrid made
her long journey to Suffolk, she was picked up by AfG and after
stretching her legs and having a drink, she traveled on to her Norfolk
foster home.

After sniffing round the bungalow and pottering round in the large
garden she  enjoyed a small meal then got settled on to her bed for a
snooze.

Ingrid, now age 13 1/2 still enjoys her life, her walks meeting many
other dogs along the way and the constant companionship of her doting
foster carer.

FREEDA  Named for racing as: Genius Escort

Colour/sex:   Blue brindle Female

Date of Birth: 25.11.2010

Last Reg Trainer: unknown ( Poss originated from Australia)

Last Reg. owner: not known ( kept at Canidrome racetrack,Macau, China)

Races contended: not known

Last rec. race: unknown

BERTY  Named for racing as Winners Take All

Colour/sex: Black male

Date of Birth:  20.11.2013

Last reg.trainer: not known ( poss originated from Australia)

Last Reg. ownwer:  not known ( kept at Canidrome Racetrack, Macau, China)

Races contended: not known

Last rec. race: not known.

FREEDA (so named from FREEDOM) and BERTY (so named from LIBERTY)

As they were just 2 of the hundreds of lucky survivors of the Racing
Industry in China.

On February 16th 2019 Annie and Marylin from AfG made the journey along
with Pete from Kerry Greyhounds UK, to pick up 2 each of the 15 arriving
to Heathrow airport out of the 500+ rescued from the closed down hell
hole, namely the Canidrome racetrack in Macau, China after decades of
campaigning by animal rights campaigners more recently spearheaded by
Animals Australia and Anima Macuas Albano Martins.

We believe Freeda and Berty originated from Australia though we still
have no information on this and we have no information of how long they
spent at the Canidrome.

Luckily AfG had a very knowledgeable foster home for the 2 hounds to go
straight into with one foster carer Marylin, being involved with them
right from the pick up at Heathrow.

Berty was in dreadful condition when he arrived at Heathrow, which did
not go un noticed by the other rescuers present, we knew straight away
he had suffered greatly at the ‘hell hole’.

He had open infected sores on his ear tips and tail tip and was very
emaciated.

It was a long wait and journey home but the hounds were all so good.

A couple of days after settling into their foster home with plenty of
comfort good food and drink, we took them to our vets.

Freeda hadn’t fared as badly as Berty (which being much older was
surprising!), she had tendon and muscular injuries which our vet
believed to have been caused by repetitive strain injuries from being
raced too hard and for too long, she had bald sore areas on her elbows
and back end and she had a slight heart issue which the vet treated with
a course of medication.

Berty had suffered far worse (as you will see on the first photos) and
was obviously traumatised his teeth were worn down to the gums (obviously from boredom and worry chewing on the kennel walls!!), his tail
was cleaned up and bandaged (and later on was to have 1″ amputated from
the end). The vet said he was at least 10kg underweight for his age and
build, he had liver failure (very concerning at such a young age of 5
years), which was treated with a very effective new medication (whereby
a few months later he recovered well so no longer needed it).

It was a concern that both hounds were not neutered and as we had no
information of when Freeda was last in season and with Bertys health
condition we decided to have Freeda neutered first.

When Berty recovered to full health he was neutered and had the tip of
his tail amputated as no amount of daily cleaning and bandaging would
heal it as it had been damaged for too long.

His foster carers straight away decided there was no other option but to
adopt the 2 adorable hounds immediately.

They had lots of space to run and play safely and though Berty was
fearful of seeing other dogs on his walks, Freeda showed no bother.

The pair gradually got used to the resident chickens (safely in an
enclosure of course) and eventually shared the paddock with the resident
goats Polo and Scarlet.

In 2021 Freeda and Berties adopters decided to sell up and move nearer
to Norwich and it wasn’t long before Freeda and Berty settled in to their
new home and environment.

Freeda was always a ‘ happy go lucky’ hound and just took everything in
her stride, however Berty had a more ‘sensitive’ nature’ relying on his
adopters, always needing one of them in sight etc but this did improve
greatly over time…and although he was fed so well ending up at a
weight of 38kg he was always looking to steal food so his adopters are
always mindful to put food well away from his reach.
Both these adorable, cherished hounds continue to live a happy
comfortable life full of love, fun and adventure, they certainly deserve
the lives they now have.

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

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.

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.