This weekend, central New York retired racing greyhound adoption groups bring the celebration of National Greyhound Adoption month to open house events in Ithaca, 55 miles southwest of Syracuse, and Oswego, about 40 miles northwest of Syracuse. Some groups are also meeting haulers on Saturday to pick up new foster greyhounds from a Florida track for central New York groups' adoption programs.
On Saturday, April 9, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine 45th Annual Open House opens its doors to the public for educational hands-on experiences with many kinds of animals. Finger Lakes Adopt a Grey (FLAAG), an affiliate of the National Greyhound Adoption Program (NGAP), will be visiting the open house to show off some of their adopted greyhounds. According to news recently updated on their website, Gorges Greyhounds will also be visiting the vet school open house to help the public meet some of their adopted and foster greyhounds.
Both FLAAG and Gorges Greyhounds are based in Ithaca. FLAAG supports central New York owners who adopt dogs from NGAP's central rescue kennel in Philadelphia. Local volunteers screen adoption applications, introduce people to their adopted greyhounds and help new adoptive families and their new greyhounds develop a good owner-pet relationship. Gorges Greyhounds maintains a network of local foster families to acclimate greyhounds from southern tracks and then provides support to area families after they adopt a dog.
Greyhounds are welcomed to the vet school and its hospital. As universal blood donors, they are usually eligible for Cornell's Companion Animal Blood Donor program. Enrollment in the blood donor program can ease the fostering costs for adoption groups, and the adoption costs for new families. Greyhound owners and foster groups who enroll their dogs in the Cornell Companion Animal Blood Donor program are provided with:
- free yearly physical exams
- free yearly CBC, chemistry and heartworm antigen tests
- free vaccines, excluding Bordetella and Giardia
- a $30 credit towards purchase of Cornell University Hospital for Animals goods or services, including pet food, for each unit of blood donated
- a free bag of food or biscuits, donated by Hills or Purina for each unit of blood donated
In Oswego, Harbor Hounds Greyhound Rescue & Adoption is participating in the 5th Annual PAWS Open House & animal rescue fundraiser, Sunday, April 10 from noon – 5 p.m. Paws & Effect, a local boarding kennel and grooming shop, sponsors the annual fundraiser to benefit local non-profit animal groups. Sunday's event features r e freshments, tours, a silent auction, door prizes, free samples, raffles including 50/50, handmade doll house, handmade Adirondack chairs and a handmade quilt, an area where the public can ask questions of local dog trainers, and more. The PAWS Open House is at 2035 County Rt. 1, Oswego.
This weekend at the Syracuse stop on one northbound greyhound transport line, Kindred Spirits Greyhound Adoption (KSGA) will welcome CI Star Flower. Flower is a black two-year-old female greyhound with a white patch on her chest. She's making her way to central New York to be fostered by KSGA in Clinton, east of Syracuse, and find an adoptive home. See Flower's pedigree and more pictures at Greyhound-data.com.
Flower was rescued by God's Greyts, an Orlando, FL retired racing greyhound adoption group which works closely with tracks in that state to foster dogs. Some are eventually sent north to be fostered and adopted in communities where there is no active greyhound racetrack. Other New York state greyhound groups are also getting new dogs from the God's Greyts transport this weekend; check their websites for greyhounds looking for a family home.
This weekend, KSGA also bid safe travels to Fudge, the Alabama greyhound whose emergency transport north for vet care, fostering, broken leg rehabilitation, and adoption “took a village,” according to KSGA co-director Cindy Siddon. Fudge, whose rear leg was smashed during a training race, did three months of rehab during central New York's tough winter with flying colors. He's been cleared for travel and is now on his way to a new home with an experienced greyhound owner in North Carolina. On Friday night, Fudge headed to Binghamton. On Saturday, the northeast network of Greyhound rescue transporters will help Fudge get further south until he reaches his new home in the sunny Carolinas.
Read Fudge's story: Local Greyhound rescuers give second chance to retired racer with broken leg
Find more local Greyhound events: Central NY celebrates retired racers: April, National Greyhound Adoption month
Get Syracuse Dog Training delivered free to your inbox – click Subscribe.
Comments