Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Where Have All the Puppies Gone?

                                                         
                                       


Where Have All the Puppies Gone?

The "humane advocate protectors" will tell you about how the racing industry kills greyhound puppies at an alarming rate, however what exact documentation have they presented to the public? Or do they know their followers will believe and never question what is put before them?

Playing the greyhound puppy card is always an easy way to get donations because who doesn't like puppies? 

"Humane advocate protectors" don't provide exact numbers or hard proof of their claims because they know a majority of the public believe and donate to without that proof, without asking questions, because that is what disciples do.

Looking at some numbers from 2010 it's not too difficult to see where the puppies are. Viewing several websites will provide an idea of the natural attrition of puppies 3 months and younger. There were estimates from as low as 17% to as high as 30% so I decided to err on the low side and used 22% as a natural attrition rate.

In 2010 there were 12,801 greyhound puppies whelped. If you take the natural attrition rate of 22% you would have 2816 pups that were either stillborn or died of natural causes before the age of 3 months which leave a total of 9,985. (To be clear, I have not done calculations on ALL dog breeds natural attrition and as it has not previously been presented to the public I think it is fair to say the "humane advocate protectors" have not researched all dog breeds natural attrition either so there is no documented evidence that greyhound puppy natural attrition is higher or lower than any other dog breed.)

We have a total of 9680 different pups that were born in 2010 that raced. These stats do not include the Pensacola track because we have not been able to locate Pensacola’s information for this blog. So the 9,680 number is actually a little higher, but we don't know by how much. (If this blog was written by a “humane advocate protector”, a bogus number would have been included).

The difference between 9,985 and 9,680 is 305.

That is 305 pups that didn't race.

Now that isn't the number of greyhound puppies that were killed between 3 months of age and racing age (which is about 18 months) - that is the number of puppies THAT DID NOT RACE. Huge difference.

So where are the puppies?

Looks like they are racing. And if they not racing probably snoozing on someone’s couch right now, as that 305 number includes dogs that schooled but failed to enter an official race but did enter an official adoption program!


Friday, March 6, 2015

A new adopted greyhound.


Something I’ve done time and time again, yet every time it is just as exciting.  We arrived home last Saturday a little after 9pm and turned him loose in the yard.  Introductions with the rest of the pack took another 30+ minutes then it's into the house. As expected a new boy has got to find his way around the house and makes a few attempts to claim (mark) things as his own. No worries dude however it is your new home and really no need to mark a thing! 

By the time new guy and rest of pack settled down it is fast approaching 3 a.m.  The new guy was wide awake and looking for fun and playtime. One thing greyhounds know is a schedule! If the kennels workers are up at 4:30 a.m., you know newly adopted greyhound is going to be up at 4:30 a.m. Who wants to play? Your greyhound does!!! 

You may wonder if it difficult taking a dog straight off the track and bringing him into a new home? Nope, not a problem at all! Granted this is my 27th adopted greyhound so I've seen all sorts of situations. Thank goodness for greyhound adoption groups as for the first time adopter an ex-racer coming from directly from the track into a forever home might be a bit of a handful.  Now you many have heard all sorts of rumors about a greyhound's life at the track. Like being refrigerator deprived. Indeed these dogs have NEVER seen their reflections in a shiny black finished refrigerator. When they see their reflection in it for the first time, a newly adopted greyhound will no doubt stare in wonder at the good looking dog looking back at them. It is quite sad they have been refrigerator reflection deprived as I'm sure every other dog breed on the face of the earth has been brought up looking at their refrigerator reflection since birth.

All kidding aside, racing greyhounds do receive care and attention from those who handle them from birth thru adoption day. The fact that they are not deprived is just one of the reasons the ex-racing greyhound can adapt to a loving pet so easily. 


But what I have never been able to figure out is why have every one of my adopted ex-racers jumped up onto my king size bed within an hour of arriving in my home when I have never seen a fully made king size bed in any of the racing kennels? Hummm...

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Trainers - they have a lot to offer.........And they have given up some of the greatest gifts!

Every time I look at my greyhounds I’m reminded of individuals many do not know. They are the ones that work long hours and spend loads of quality time with each greyhound in the kennel; they make our greyhounds what they are. 


Here is a blog from 2011



And a photo of myself and one special trainer