The Greyhound Adoption Movement:

The Greyhound Adoption Movement: Changing an Image

by Joan Dillon ©

With the growing popularity of greyhounds as pets and the mushrooming of adoption groups across the country, it now seems hard to believe that greyhounds were once considered vicious dogs incapable of being pets. Yet, in the early 1980's greyhounds were always pictured wearing muzzles; therefore, quite naturally, the public assumed they must be vicious. Not only did greyhounds have an image problem to overcome but some of those most outspoken against making pets out of former racing greyhounds included greyhound industry employees, veterinarians, animal rights movers and shakers, the media, and even the general public.

An October, 1980 issue of Animals, a magazine published by the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), carried an article by journalist Sandra Rappaport entitled "Greyhounds, Racing to Nowhere" which quoted a handler as saying, "Yeah, look at that, that's a greyhound. Bred to be killers," he brags, "One of these is better than a Doberman." In the same article, Dr. Richard Rogers of Harvard University's research lab, an experimental facility in Southborough, Massachusetts, reported that as many as 60 greyhounds had been donated for cardiovascular research the previous year. Dr. Rogers went on to state that the dogs were confined to small cages in groups of two or three and wore muzzles as, "without them, competitive conditioning results in fights and serious injuries." (Dr. Rogers would later testify as to this aggressiveness of greyhounds to others of their kind and their unsuitability as pets at a hearing held at the Massachusetts State House in connection with a bill that had been proposed by the New England Anti-Vivisection Society which unsuccessfully sought to ban the use of greyhounds in research.)

"Although they are friendly to people, racing greyhounds seldom make good pets," the Animals article further stated. "Training has ruined their tolerance for every day life with people or other animals. Most experts believe that a retired greyhound would have to spend every minute in a run or on a leash."

One such expert, naturalist author Mildred Teal, is quoted as saying, "We had a racing greyhound, but not for long. Its running back and forth tore up the lawn. On its first day with us it ripped apart my daughter's guinea pig cage and killed her pet. Then it jumped on a child who was down on the floor...we had to have it put to sleep."

The article then stated that the MSPCA puts thousands of unwanted dogs of every kind to sleep every year and quoted one official as saying, "Unfortunately, no one wants a burned-out greyhound when there are so many other dogs to choose from."

In an interview with Turnout Magazine in January, 1983, John Hoyt, president of the HSUS, made the following interesting statements: "I don't think the humane movement would be quick to condemn the humane destruction of these greyhounds, though we would certainly insist that it be done humanely. We would rather object to their having been bred for a purpose that was so short-lived it was necessary to destroy them. We would much rather see them humanely destroyed than to see someone attempt to perpetuate them on a farm for retired greyhounds for years and years to come."

"We're not in the business of trying to help legitimate industries out of business," Hoyt added. We're in the business of trying to help legitimate industries perfect their uses of animals. Once the training of live animals was eliminated and we felt that everything possible was being done to assure that the greyhounds were being humanely disposed of both prior to and after they had lived out their usefulness, greyhound racing would effectively no longer be targeted for any major actions or endeavours by an animal welfare organization."

During the early 1980's, incidentally, it was not an uncommon occurrence to see articles in various animal rights publications opposing the placement of racing greyhounds as pets by stressing that greyhounds would be dangerous around children and other animals. A number of greyhound owners were also hesitant to allow their greyhounds to be placed as pets as they had concerns about liability due to the fact that the majority of greyhounds in the early eighties had been trained on live lures, usually jackrabbits.

One of the most graphic items to appear in a newspaper during this time frame, however, wasn't an article at all but a paid advertisement. This advertisement in a January, 1983 Revere, Mass. newspaper had been paid for by a Vera Curcio of Revere and consisted of a quarter of a page reprinting a front page article from the August 20, 1935 Evening Item and headed "Saugus Man Saves Girl Attacked by Six Greyhounds." The ad in big letters stated "DISASTROUS HISTORY AT WONDERLAND--MUST IT REPEAT AGAIN?? Read the tragic story below and most importantly, attend the Public Hearing on Monday, January 24th at 7 PM at the Revere City Hall and let Your Voice Be Heard to 'your' elected councillors that they not create a law allowing Vicious Dogs to be boarded in our City!"

The article in question told of an incident in which an eighteen-year-old girl fell "screaming" into a pack of seven unmuzzled greyhounds which were being walked on leashes by an eighteen year old boy and reported she was bitten by two of them. A garage operator hearing her screams came to the rescue and was acclaimed a hero as "it took plenty of nerve and courage to battle the savage animals."

Evidently Ms. Curcio's article achieved the desired result as, to this day, Wonderland Park does not have on-track kennels. Instead, greyhounds are kenneled at a privately-owned facility in a neighboring town.

As late as April 24, 1984, Red Hoffman, a publicist at Wonderland for 17 years and a respected sportswriter for the Lynn Item, was quoted in an article in the Worcester Gazette (Mass.), cautioning people against "buying" greyhounds for pets. In the article he states, "Some people do, but they're trained to kill. Some trainers even feed them live rabbits to try to pump them up before a race."

"They're treacherous and suddenly turn on owners," he said.

Yet, there were some individuals who recognized the pet qualities of racing greyhounds even before the establishment of adoption groups. Many of these worked with greyhounds at tracks or on farms and, knowing what greyhounds were really like, kept favorites as pets or gave them to friends, but these were a minority.

The first track to promote greyhounds as pets may be Seabrook Greyhound Park in New Hampshire. In an issue of Post Time, a newspaper distributed by the track to its patrons, dated February 12, 1981, there appear two articles promoting greyhounds as pets. The first one entitled, "Looking for a Pet? How About a Greyhound" by Elaine Tarmy states "Many a former Seabrook racer has found a happy home with a family. I, myself, have one I acquired five years ago, and he is a wonderful pet." The second article, "Greyhounds Pampered Says Pauline O'Donnell" states as follows: "Despite propaganda from anti-greyhound forces they are very affectionate and love people, especially children. They make good house pets too and owners have become so attached to some of their dogs, they have made them housepets. Such was the case of Yellow Printer, the great Irish racer and stud dog whom Mrs. O'Donnell took into her Hialeah, Fla. home after his racing days were over. He remained there until the day he died at 12 years of age and was buried under the tree in the backyard."

There were also two photos of greyhounds and children with captions promoting greyhounds as pets.

In 1982, the Greyhound Racing Record carried a small article reporting that a St Petersburg, Florida man by the name of Ron Walsek had started a greyhound adoption organization called REGAP which stood for Retired Greyhounds as Pets. According to subsequent articles, Ron had come to know and love greyhounds by working on a greyhound farm and at a local track. His idea soon spread to other parts of the country and, since greyhounds as pets were still unknown to the general public, most of the early adoption advocates and volunteers were either directly (as owners and breeders) or indirectly (through relatives or friends) connected in some way with the greyhound industry. These pioneers of greyhound adoption while struggling to change the public perception of greyhounds from that of racing machines to family pets could never have foreseen that fourteen years later there would be more than 200 greyhound adoption organizations in 43 states placing an estimated 16,000 greyhounds as pets in a single year. Despite the hard work of these early volunteers, however, the adoption movement could never have been a success without one very important prerequisite--the winning personality and adaptability of the racing greyhound which has won the breed so very many supporters over the last fourteen years.

The author is a member of the Dog Writers Association of America and resides in Randolph, Mass. A greyhound owner since 1979, she became involved in the adoption movement in 1982 and currently serves on the board of The Greyhound Project, Inc. This article is copyright Joan Dillon, 1996, and is reprinted by permission of the author.

The Greyhound Adoption Movement: An American Phenomenon with British Roots

by Joan Dillon ©

Prior to 1982 it was highly unusual to see a greyhound anywhere other than the side of a bus or at a racetrack and any racing greyhounds kept as pets were usually the favorites of owners, breeders or trainers and seldom seen in public. Although there were some AKC greyhounds, the breed was never particularly popular. Even in 1995, a year which saw an estimated 16,000 retired racing greyhounds placed as pets, only 147 greyhounds were registered with the AKC, causing them to be ranked 125th out of 140 recognized breeds.

Bred mainly for the show ring, AKC greyhounds tend to be larger, heavier and less muscular with longer backs than their racing counterparts in which speed and a lack of aggression toward other greyhounds are more important than appearance. Breed flaws like stand up ears neither affect a greyhound's running ability nor its ability to become a pet. Owners and breeders of AKC greyhounds, however, have viewed the rising popularity of greyhounds as pets with some apprehension. Since greyhounds have occasionally been transferred from the NGA to the AKC, they are concerned that an influx of NGA greyhounds would have a negative impact on AKC greyhounds. To help allay these concerns, NGA owners should not permit anyone to transfer a greyhound to the AKC unless it is an outstanding physical representative of the breed able to hold its own in a show ring.

The greyhound adoption movement is usually considered to have begun in 1982 when Ron Walsek of St. Petersburg, Florida founded REGAP (Retired Greyhounds As Pets), an all volunteer non-profit organization, to educate the public as to the true nature of the greyhound and find homes for greyhounds that retired from, or failed to qualify for, the racetrack. Yet, years before Americans began to accept the notion that retired racing greyhounds could make a career switch from athlete to couch potato, greyhound adoption was already a fait accompli in Great Britain!

In 1974 the NGRC Retired Greyhound Trust was formed as a registered charity with its head office located in London at the offices of the National Greyhound Racing Club. In addition to providing administrative and secretarial staff, the Trust acknowledges donations, handles general enquiries and correspondence, and places ads in pet magazines and on television. It also provides funds, obtained from a percentage of the first time registration fee for a greyhound, as well as legacies, charity race meetings, etc., for kenneling greyhounds pending home placement. The Trust relies on regional groups of volunteers, many of them owners of racing greyhounds, to do the actual "homefinding" and organizing of advertising campaigns and media coverage to locate suitable homes. These regional representatives meet several times a year at the office of the Trust with representatives of racetrack management and veterinarians.

Even prior to the establishment of the Trust, however, the British Union for the Abolishment of Vivisection had a sanctuary for retired racing dogs run by Ann Shannon who started homing greyhounds in 1956, and later developed a network of contacts across the country. With the formation of the Trust, this responsibility passed to the NGRC. British teacher Johanna Beumer, a Trust homefinder at the Walthamstow track in London, began homing greyhounds in 1965. Another Trust homefinder was Gee Lebon, a prolific writer with a regular column in Turnout magazine and articles in Dog World, who corresponded regularly with many early American adoption pioneers sharing ideas for fund raising and her knowledge of greyhounds as pets.

During the 1980's, the American greyhound racing industry was booming. NGA membership climbed and more and more greyhounds were being bred to meet the anticipated demand of new states and new tracks. Racing greyhounds, however, were always pictured muzzled and placing them as pets was not only uncommon, it was news! Newspapers and magazines published a plethora of articles on the subject and TV interviews with adoption representatives and adopters slowly began to change the public perception of greyhounds. Tracks started permitting adoption groups to distribute information and hold on-track pet exhibits enabling the public to actually meet a greyhound. A donation check was often presented to the group resulting in positive publicity for the track in the local newspaper. Articles related what to expect when adopting a greyhound and how to go about it. Some also provided historical information about the breed and general racing information. Adoption success stories were popular. Yet, even though thousands of greyhounds were being routinely put down, articles were generally positive both with regard to the greyhound and to the greyhound industry.

By the end of 1986, in addition to Ron Walsek's original REGAP in Florida, REGAP clones existed in a number of other states. On April 4, 1987, representatives from REGAP groups in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Virginia, Ohio, Iowa and California (participated by telephone), met in Oxford, Massachusetts to form Greyhound Pets of America – a national organization with one board member per chapter and with democratically elected officers and policies. By the end of 1987, all known adoption groups with the exception of Ron Walsek's original REGAP in Florida, REGAP of Arizona, and Greyhound Rescue Society and Greyhound Friends in Massachusetts, had joined GPA. REGAP of Connecticut, originally interested in being part of the new organization, later decided to remain separate. Most notable about the mid to late eighties, however, was the fact that greyhounds as pets were no longer considered oddities.

Up to this time, the majority of people placing greyhounds had either been connected in some way with the greyhound industry or had direct contact with people who did. They recognized that the greyhound industry was made up of more good guys than bad and that far more could be accomplished to help the greyhounds with industry support and assistance. As more and more people became active in promoting and placing retired greyhounds, the adoption movement spread from racing states to non-racing ones and greyhound adoption groups soon covered virtually every part of the country except Hawaii, and had crossed the border into Canada as well.

While organizations in racing states still had first hand contact with people in the greyhound industry and tended to take a neutral stance toward greyhound racing, some of the newcomers, particularly those in non-racing states, did not. Influenced by anti-racing animal rights advocates, they began to attack the racing industry in the media and, although incidents of greyhound abuse have always been in the minority, any that did occur (even if years before), were sensationalized and expounded upon. The HSUS, whose president in 1983 stated, "Once the training of live animals was eliminated and we felt that everything possible was being done to assure that the greyhounds were being humanely disposed of both prior to and after they had lived out their usefulness, greyhound racing would effectively no longer be targeted for any major actions or endeavours by an animal welfare organization," has since become extremely vocal against greyhound racing. Given a choice, most adoption groups would prefer positive articles to negative ones. Negative press brings potential adopters out of the woodwork all wanting to "save" a greyhound but, since this is a spur of the moment decision, they seldom have the commitment needed to make an adoption work and are all too ready to return the dog if they encounter adjustment problems.

Some people in the greyhound industry, particularly at racetracks, continue to leave themselves open to negative publicity by not keeping better controls on those who handle the greyhounds. For example, when greyhounds trucked to an adoption group arrive loaded with ticks and covered with fleas, people assume that this is the norm at all tracks and that all greyhounds are in this sad condition. In addition, anyone affiliated with an adoption group who has spent hours de-ticking greyhounds, or any adopter or foster home dealing with a flea infestation caused by the arrival of a greyhound, is not going to look kindly on the greyhound industry and is likely to believe all rumors of greyhound abuse.

In some ways, negative media attention may actually have benefitted the greyhounds by influencing some in the greyhound industry to change their attitude toward greyhound welfare from lip service to active support. The late eighties and nineties have seen a steady increase in the number of greyhound holding and/or adoption kennels at many tracks, as well as the formation of the American Greyhound Council, the giving of grants to greyhound adoption groups, the establishment of the greyhound adoption fund administered by the ASPCA and, most recently, during the current period of greyhound industry downsizing, the providing of direct physical and financial assistance to facilitate the transporting of greyhounds from closed tracks to adoption groups across the country.

The greyhound adoption movement is a success. The good news is that, with fewer greyhounds now being bred and with over 200 adoption groups across the country, more greyhounds are now being placed as pets than put down. The bad news from a greyhound industry standpoint is that, despite all they have done and continue to do to help the greyhounds, they just seem to attract more and more adverse publicity. Somehow, in view of the increasing support they have shown for greyhound welfare, this doesn't seem fair.

Joan Dillon is a freelance writer and member of the Dog Writers Association of America who resides in Randolph, Mass. A greyhound owner since 1979, she became involved in the adoption movement in 1982 and currently serves on the board of The Greyhound Project, Inc. This articl