Volunteers give greyhounds a new leash on life

More than 1,000 miles away from Lisa Fontalbert's Corner Ketch home, a dozen greyhounds burst out of their starting boxes, tiny feet beating rapidly against the soft earth and round eyes fixed on their quarry – an artificial rabbit.

The dogs are literally running for their lives.

Greyhound racing is big business in Florida – providing millions of dollars each year in state revenue – but thousands of greyhounds are abandoned by their owners when they are injured, under-perform or pass their prime.

For many dogs, the only thing keeping them out of the kill-trucks are groups like the Greyhound Adoptions of Florida.

The Northeast Chapter of Greyhound Adoptions is a dedicated group of volunteers from northern Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania. They carry vanloads of rescued greyhounds from Florida and foster them until they find a permanent home.

“We may not be able to change the world for every greyhound, but we can change that world for that greyhound,” said Fontalbert, who owns three rescued greyhounds.

The group has saved about 300 dogs since it got started in 2002, Fontalbert said, but with Florida’s 13 tracks – each with about 1,000 active racing dogs – there is still plenty of work to do.

Racing greyhounds are considered livestock, she said, so none of the laws that protect pets apply to them. Many live in little more than lean-tos and are given only basic food and water, she said.

They attend racing school as pups and start racing when they are 2 years old. Dogs that don’t place within three races are typically cut and often abandoned or euthanized.

“Some of the dogs never even make it off the breeding farm,” she said, and thinking about that makes rescuing them a no-brainer.

While many of the rescued dogs are simply past their prime, she said some are broken-leg dogs that owners could have helped if they wanted to spend the money.

One recently-rescued broken-leg dog, Cowboy, had a $3,000 orthopedic bill paid by Greyhound Adoptions of Florida. But sometimes, dogs like Cowboy are euthanized right on the track like horses, she said.

Rescuing a greyhound in need of a new life is very rewarding work, said Priscilla Crossland of Claymont, who is fostering Cowboy and four other greyhounds with her husband, John.

“We started our married life with two poodles and they were hellions,” she said. “We got greyhounds and thought we were in heaven.”

There are about half a dozen foster homes within the chapter and the dogs typically respond well to their new environment after a couple of days, she said.

And despite their racing backgrounds, greyhounds are couch potatoes, said Jennifer Booth of Newark. She adopted her first, Jake, a year ago and was shocked to discover that he was pooped after an hour-long walk. Now, she takes her dog for a 20-minute stroll and that is plenty for him.

Booth loves her greyhound so much she recently adopted a second one, Daisy. Unlike Jake, who was a race dog, Daisy is a brood, who spent most of her entire life in one small room and did nothing but have puppies, she said.

While adoptions are down right now because of the economy, the rescues continue unabated, Fontalbert said. Until the 10 remaining states with greyhound tracks pass laws prohibiting greyhound racing, the Northeast Chapter of Greyhound Adoptions of Florida intends to keep busy.