As many of you are by now aware, we have recently completed the Spring 2019 Daphne Legacy Tour transport with our partners at the Daphne Legacy tour. On April 30th, May 1st, and and May 2nd, American Greyhound volunteers were on hand to help land 31 galgos at O'Hare's international terminal and transport them safely back to Indiana. We had arranged for our foster families to meet the hauler in Valparaiso upon our return and then welcome their new charges into their homes. 17 of the dogs would be seeking a permanent home through American Greyhound; the remaining 14 would be staying with their American Greyhound foster home only a day or two. On Friday, May 3rd, we loaded the 14 dogs who were only residing in temporary accommodations back on the hauler and transported them to Denver, Colorado, and into the hands of Friends of Retired Greyhounds.
In addition, during that same week, eight other Galgos landed in New York where they joined groups in both New York and Pennsylvania, while two dogs passed through O'Hare on their way to San Francisco, California.
This was a remarkable effort on the part of many people and organizations.
Of course, primary thanks go to the Daphne Legacy Tour and their wonderful volunteers who, among other things, flew to Spain about a week prior to departure, volunteered in the Scooby Shelter in Medina Del Campo, and helped prepare the dogs for travel, helped with the daily chores that are required at a shelter housing that may hundreds of animals, on flight day loaded the dogs at the airport and joined their flight to Chicago, passed the dogs through customs and helped turn them out, and load them on the American Greyhound hauler. And, of course, the ridiculous amount of "behind the scenes" work that must be accomplished before anyone ever leaves the states is much too long to list (fund raising, arranging flights, arranging animals for transport, passports, etc, etc). Our greatest thanks go to these folks as with them, none of this would have occurred.
American Greyhound volunteers again stepped up to the plate in typical fashion, helping in every conceivable way. From helping with the unloading and transport, tagging and washing up, fostering, and of course making the long distance drive to Denver, I count almost 50 volunteers who helped in some way to assure everything came off without a hitch. Many thanks go out to you for your dedication, efforts and sacrifice.
And, when I mentioned that it went off without a hitch, I meant it. The Daphne Legacy Tour folks have really got it together. Moving dogs from racetracks and farms in the southern part of the country, up to the Midwest is a relatively simple task, and we've performed it many times over the past 9 years or so. But, occasionally, we encounter hitches. Not major ones. Not dangerous ones. Maybe nothing more than lost paperwork or a flat tire on the trailer or van. Transporting over 3 dozen dogs from a foreign country, traveling through two international airports, synching up schedules with people five time zones apart and one half of the people you're interacting with speaking a foreign language is not a simple task. It's a pretty complicated one. And yet, down to every last detail, it went off completely without a hitch. That is a testament to Daphne Legacy Tour and their volunteers.
Look for these 17 galgos to start appearing on our website as they become available for adoption. These are dogs that in many ways are similar to the racing greyhounds we've known and loved. They are couch potatoes, they're slim, athletic dogs (though somewhat smaller than greyhounds), and they tend to be very non-aggressive dogs. But.....in many ways they are different and will require different care than retired racers.
One of those differences is containment. Many of our retired racers cause no fear of escape from fences as low as 4 feet. Their focus tends to be down low toward prey they may have chased generations ago and to the level where a racing lure may have run at the track. While galgos likewise would have chased prey that ran low to the ground, they are built and accustomed to not allowing any sort of obstacle get in their way, be it a fence, hedge or downed tree.
Take a look at this video and see what we mean.
While not every galgo will display this sort of tenacity when encountering an obstacle, it does require some time and acclimation to determine whether or not they will. And even then, constant monitoring would be of the utmost importance.
Of course, while obviously very closely related to the greyhounds we know so well, they aren't a dog for everyone. So, please, before applying to adopt one of these dogs, take some time to consider your lifestyle, your fencing situation, and what your expectations are from dog ownership.
