As Dog Racing Drops, Greyhound Adoption Need Rises

[Purveyor]

(01-04) 15:19 PST Kenosha, Wis. (AP) --

Seven dog tracks halted racing across the country last year, forcing hundreds of greyhounds into an uncertain future. With fewer tracks available for them to race, the sleek long-limbed dogs are now flooding the adoption market at a difficult time.

Economic hardships are preventing many dog lovers from adopting, or worse, forcing them to give back animals they can no longer afford to keep. Misconceptions about the breed — that greyhounds are hyperactive and crave constant stimulation and exercise — also scare away some potential owners, advocates say.

And most have spent their lives inside racetracks and kennels with little exposure to families, kids or even the most basic household activities, say greyhound lovers like Rhonda Mack, who took in two dogs from the Dairyland Greyhound Park in southern Wisconsin, which closed last week.

"You bring a dog home ... They've never been outside the racetrack," said the 50-year-old from Lake Zurich, Ill., who now has three greyhounds, including new additions Lexi and Jack. "They go into your house — they don't know what a window is, they don't know what stairs are. They walk right into windows like they aren't even there."

The track in Wisconsin ran its last dog race on New Year's Eve; another in Phoenix and one in Massachusetts also ended dog racing last month, bringing the total to seven tracks that pulled the mechanical rabbit in 2009.

There are no precise figures, however greyhound advocates estimate more than 1,000 greyhounds now need new homes. That's in addition to the best racers, who will be sent to tracks that remain open elsewhere or to breeders.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/04/national/a113159S49.DTL#ixzz0bh0Val5z

[blondeatlast]

1. I love greys but I'm not a good candidate to adopt them. Such loving and beautiful dogs, though.

IfI had more time to offer, I'd adopt one in a heartbeat; I adore them but need a lwo maintenance dog like my Wheaten Terrier mix.

[virgogal]

2. They are marvelous dogs-------two friends adopted them.

Both dogs had to be taught to climb stairs,though,which was pretty funny.

[beyurslf]

3. I would never even have thought about the not knowing windows and doors.

That is crazy. My brother had to "teach" his lab to go up stairs and he had had him since he was a pup. He never could figure it out until my brother helped him. It was odd because he could go down just not up.