Greyhound Adoption - Where to go?

[Adam]

Hello everyone:

 

I am a former greyhound owner.  Sadly my greyhound, who I absolutely cherished and adored, passed away from cancer recently.   I adopted him 2.5 years ago and tried to give him the most wonderful life.   I love the bread and had such a wonderful experience with my greyhound that I would love the opportunity to adopt another greyhound(s).   The thing is we moved from Florida where greyhounds were common to an area where they are uncommon - I have reached out to many greyhound shelters but many of their policies are not to adopt to individuals outside of their state or a certain geographic area.   Distance is not an issue for me and I am happy to drive however long to adopt the right greyhound.   Can anyone recommend any shelters, breeders, or national services that will adopt to anyone regardless of geography?  

 

Appreciate the help!

[macoduck]

There are already long waiting lists for people within their established, previous adoption groups.  What state are you in?

Have you considered a lurcher?  Sighthound Underground, based in northern VA, occasionally has greyhounds and lurchers in foster homes in various locations in the US.

[Time4ANap]

Most groups won't adopt out of their regional areas.  For many, this is part of their charter so is not an option for them.  If you can post your nearest major city and state, there is often someone here who will have a contact  nearby to help you find your new sofa warmer. Good luck! 

[Adam]

Thank you all for the suggestions.  I am currently in Atlanta which has 1 or 2 rescues but not many. 

[greysmom]

I second contacting The Sighthound Underground.  There's also the American Lurcher Project (formerly the Ohio Lurcher Project  American Lurcher Project ).  A lurcher is a greyhound cross and many of their dogs are rescued from various off-book racing and hunting contests.  They do have some purebred greyhounds, as well.  There are also a couple Galgo rescue organizations available if that breed option is acceptable.

With the closure of the tracks in Florida, there just aren't enough retired racing greyhounds to meet all the adoption demands.  My group here in Oregon is flying dogs in from Ireland!  The geographical area closer to Florida and the Midwest does seem to get more dogs more frequently though.  Get on any waitlists you can and keep in touch with the volunteers there (and volunteer for them if you can, to keep your face in front of them).  If you have special needs, like cat tolerant or specific gender, it makes the job harder.  Either way, if you want a retired track dog, you are in for a wait.  

If you want to try another way - not necessarily shorter, but with more choices - you can search out a registered breeder and purchase a purebred puppy.  There's quite a community on Facebook in the group "Greyhound Puppies" who can help you locate a breeder with available litters.  There aren't a lot of them every year, but it may soon be everyone's only option for purebred greyhounds.

Good luck!

[Sniffy]

Hello Adam,

I'm in New England and had a similar experience with shelters not considering adopting outside of a certain geographical area (and in one case, directly contradicting the policy detailed on their own website! ). In my area some shelters have ceased operations (temporarily or permanently). It's probably a combination of COVID times and reduction in the number of available greys from the closure of tracks almost everywhere in the US including FL.

Some shelters are getting greys from other countries such as Ireland and Spain. My previous grey was from Ireland and she was amazing. I also agree with the lurcher suggestion-- and would  maybe extend your consideration to other sighthound breeds (sloughi, saluki, borzoi , Pharoah hound, Scottish Deerhound etc).  Best of luck!!

[Houndtime]

Greyhound Angels in Williamstown New Jersey, will adopt out of the area, after checking your references.  And, they pretty much, always, have dogs from West Virginia tracks and farms.  They have a very good relationship with breeders, trainers and track people there.  Lisa is also very good at matching dogs with owners.  I have had three dogs from there.