The day I knew..............It was not about the dogs..........A blast from the past!

Occasionally I will circle back and share a blast from the past - here is this months blast...........Enjoy!

My first dog was named Cinnamon. She was my BFF from the time I was four years old.

Cinnamon would lay on the edge of the yard waiting for me to return from school every day. I always enjoyed getting out of school and rushing home to romp around the yard with my dog.

Just a boy and his dog, enjoying life and being together.

One day as I came home I could see the front yard was empty - no Cinnamon. I walked into the house expecting to be greeted by Cinnamon who was most likely napping but no Cinnamon. 

Where was my Cinnamon?

The news was broken to me - someone purposely drove 50 feet off the road and ran over Cinnamon who had been sleeping on the edge of our front yard waiting for me to return from school.

Why would someone purposely kill Cinnamon? 

What sort of person would deprive me of my dog?

Over the years I have come to believe that the individual(s) involved in killing Cinnamon had a heart full of hate, living a meaningless life void of honesty and integrity. I can only hope that over time the individual(s) have changed, for me and for Cinnamon any change came too late – this person's hate deprived a boy of his dog.

Several years ago I was driving home from work. What I was about to hear had such an impact on me I still remember exactly where I was - Grand Avenue and 19th. Rumors had spread that Tucson Greyhound Park might shut down. I was on the phone with a person in a nearby state that had high connections with an “advocacy” organization. When I mentioned that the adoption groups may not be able to get all the dogs, this person just blurted out, “Won’t that be fabulous!!"

“What?” I replied in total shock. "Dogs could die if the adoption groups cannot handle a huge influx of adoptable greyhounds"

And her cold, hard comeback was “But won’t that be fabulous – no more racing”. 

I replied “That is sick, dogs will die and you are happy to have dogs die to end racing?"

In my 18 years involved with greyhounds, I have come to the conclusion that some individuals hide behind the banners of “advocacy and protection” while their hearts are void of honesty and integrity. Their lives are consumed by their hatred of greyhound racing and will stoop to any level to end it...even if it puts the greyhounds they claim to "protect" and "speak for" at risk.

Care to join me as we do what we can to protect the greyhounds from those with hearts void of honesty and integrity and help protect the greyhounds from individuals who have hearts so full of hate that they will do anything to deprive a future boy (or girl) of his future dog?