In May, there were  15 new arrivals - 14 dogs from a haul from Birmingham, AL and West Memphis, AR. 12 of those dogs are AG dogs and 2 went to another group.  The other new arrival is a senior lurcher from a shelter.    We also had 16 adoptions.

That makes our year-to-date totals 48 adoptions and 79 rescues (64 to AG and 15 to other groups).

 

Last weekend we sent the hauler south to pick up a load of dogs. We picked up 14 dogs of which 12 came into American Greyhound's program and two went to another rescue. Ten of these dogs came from Birmingham, Alabama, where we have made a number of trips over the years (that is the something old). However, they didn't have dogs enough to fill our needs due to a dearth of cat tolerant males and we had to look for another track who may have some. We made contact with the folks at  Mid-South Greyhound Adoption, a rescue kennel located at Southland Park in West Memphis, Arkansas.  On short notice, they were able to locate the four cat tolerant males we needed to fill out our haul.

So, we pulled out of Valparaiso, Indiana, last Friday and headed the rig to Arkansas (that is the something new). We arrived early and after a quick stop for breakfast in the local Waffle House (hey, when in Rome), headed into the kennel and picked up our four boys. Once loaded, a little after 7:00 AM, we headed the rig southeast for Birmingham, Alabama to pick up the remaining members of our haul. By 1:00 PM we were headed back north, arriving back in northern Indiana around midnight. After tagging and micro-chipping our new dogs it was nearer to 3:00 AM by the time most of us crawled into bed.

I'd like to throw out a big thanks to Julie and Bob Wirtes, and Robert Larson for riding/driving during the haul. And, of course, for all the dog wrangling during the loading and unloading processes.Also, many thanks to all the foster families who came out in the middle of the night to pick up their new pups. As much as I'd like to have the hounds ready to go at a more reasonable hour, the logistics of picking them up there and getting them up here often requires a late night arrival.

And, as a side note, two of the boys we picked up in Arkansas had broken their legs during a race late last year. While the rescue kennel had them in surgery repairing their legs, they also had them neutered, had their teeth cleaned and their shots brought up to date. Having the vet work complete allowed us to move these two boys to areas where we are attempting to establish ourselves and  develop new foster networks (since we don't yet have veterinary arrangements in the new areas, we  would have had to hold the pups in northern Indiana until their vet work was completed). One boy,  Arkle, went to Urbana, Illinois, where we began operating earlier this year, and Class went to Terre 

Haute, Indiana, where he is the initial foster dog for American Greyhound in that city. Anyone who may live near these cities and would like to participate in these efforts can contact our Foster Coordinator, Nicole Graves at (219)395-4432 or e-mail her at [email protected]. Neither of these areas is actively represented by greyhound rescue and we believe there is a very strong potential for them to provide many adoptive homes for our hounds.

Also, anyone interested in participating in future hauls please contact Jeff Coggins at (219)771-0892 or email me at [email protected].

And, one last thing, the only way we can send the hauler out to make a difference in the lives of unwanted greyhounds is to have foster homes available to put the dogs we bring back. Help us help them by taking on a foster dog. It's a very easy way to make you feel good about yourself. American Greyhound will provide all the necessary veterinary work, a crate, and all the support you'll need to turn your retired racer (or whatever they may be retired from) into a wonderful companion animal. All you add is a couple meals a day, a roof over their head and a whole lot of love. To help fill the next haul, contact Nicole at (219)395-4432 or [email protected].