"I saw how happy and healthy the dogs are..."

As a veteran teacher, I readily accept that my students are a product of both nature and nurture. However, prior to adopting my first retired racer in 2015, I believed the anti-racing rhetoric that I had read and heard. When I adopted Janey, who raced until she was 4 and then spent a year at a breeding farm in West Virginia, I believed I had rescued her even though she was healthy, good-natured and gentle from the day she arrived.

My lightbulb moment occurred when I started fostering for my adoption group and noticed that every foster dog that came to Delaware from the Charleston, West Virginia adoption kennel was healthy, good-natured and gentle, right off the track. I started thinking that, if children are a combination of their genetics plus how they’re raised, why wouldn’t the same be true for dogs? It’s just common sense that, if I adopt a dog at 5 years of age, the credit for her disposition has to go to whoever owned and raised her before she became my pet.

I joined The Pro Greyhound Movement Facebook page and read posts written by people who are or have been in the greyhound racing industry. The love they have for their dogs was apparent from their comments, photos & videos. Via Facebook, I found the owner of my second greyhound, who confessed that she almost took Ellie home and kept her when she retired because “she was such a sweetheart.”

Then, as I got more involved with my adoption group, I drove to Charleston, WV and met greyhound owners, trainers, handlers, and adoption kennel workers. Again, the love they have for their dogs is obvious. More importantly, I saw how happy and healthy the dogs are and how excited they get when it’s time to race.

Frank Zappa said, “A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it’s not open.” I hope that Florida’s voters won’t blindly accept what they’re being told about racing greyhounds by anti-racing zealots. Instead, I hope they’ll have an open mind, do their own research, and then vote to let greyhounds continue doing what they love to do. I know I’ll continue adopting greyhounds when they’re finished racing and will be forever grateful to the people at the farm and the track who loved my dogs before I did.

Sandi Roberts
Bethany Beach, DE

Comments

"As a person who helps connect humans and Greyhounds..."

As the President and Founder of Forever Home Greyhound Adoptions, as well as having 13 of my own Greys, I feel like it's important to weigh in with my views as not only a Grey mom, but as a person who helps connect humans and Greyhounds, every day for over 20 years now. With all the allegations and controversy surrounding the Greyhound racing industry lately, I feel like it's high time that more of us on the adoption side of the road make our thoughts and feelings known. Having been in the adoption world for well over 20 years now, I think I have seen and heard just about everything, and I am here to tell the world that all the anti-racing slandering of the industry is shameful, hurtful, and untrue. Most of the AR mouthpieces that spout toxic lies the loudest, have probably never ever seen the inside of a racing kennel, and maybe never even witnessed a Greyhound race. Well, I HAVE, and I can truthfully say, that most kennels are cleaner than some people's homes, a

"She was not 'culled' like a puppy farm inmate"

It's about the dogs! It's been not quite four years since I became a "Crazy Greyhound Lady," retired racers have that effect on a large number of their adopters. NGA greyhounds have amazing careers as athletes and then are fortunate to have an adoption rate of over 95% when those careers are over. Now it's time for all of us who appreciate all that goes into the breeding, training, and care to stand up and defend racing against the endless lies put out by profit-driven extremists. My husband and I have adopted two retired racers and volunteer extensively with our adoption group, including traveling to the track to pick up new retirees and doing home visits to help match prospective adopters with dogs. We had the oh-so-common experience of mutual love at first sight when we met each of our hounds. Coming up with a testimonial should have been an very easy task. Instead I struggled with draft after draft, they all fell short. One day I realized that it was not

"And one year later we visit the first time a racetrack."

My Story: so sorry my English is not perfect I hope you understand me?! I am from Germany and in 2002 I met my first greyhound. He was from the last closed racetrack in Italy and was in a shelter in Germany. His name was Teseo (Teseo della Capitale). The beginning of a very deep love to greyhounds. But Teseo was so sad an scared and unlucky ... now we know he was unlucky with us. He was the first time alone ....He missed other greyhounds. But eight weeks later we adopted Zama (Teresas Hope). A female from the same track. And Teseo was so happy! He changed in a lucky and wonderful boy. At first we hate everything about racetracks. We heard from rescue groups so terrible things about this. This was a very bad area and all people are bad. But we met other greyhound owners in our town and we talked about everything ... and about the racetrack too. They told us so much other stories about the dogs and the people and we changed our opinion. And one year later we visit the f

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