Even other dogs love them … Andy the greyhound, who is looking for a home, couldn’t be more laid back. Photo: Greyhounds As Pets.
Sneaking in amidst all the bad news this week was such a good tail: that of the Greyhounds As Pets rescue group which, with 25 dogs in need of a home, decided to take them to the people – Canberra people.
The theory being that instead of having to traipse about the countryside to match dog and human, the dogs and humans would be in the one central place for their meet and greet – and it worked, 15 of the dogs found homes.
Now that’s something to bark about.
You would have thought greyhounds would be the best pets for only the most active of households. Not so. Turns out most of them have better couch potato skills than cushions. They sort-of “lie here until you stop patting me/feeding me treats/telling me how fabulous I am”.
They rarely bark, don’t shed and have cultivated this thing called the Greyhound Lean where, if they choose you to be the lean-ee, they rest their body against you like a giant, albeit skinny, comforter.
They’re also whip-smart. One woman who went home with a greyhound said, jokingly, she didn’t have a whole lot of choice. When she arrived at the adoption day, one of the first dogs she met was Silver, a two-year-old handsome, boofy fellow. Later, when she was wandering around looking at the other dogs, Silver appeared from nowhere, manoeuvred the dog she was patting away, and went in for the Lean.
Next thing she knew she was discussing with the greyhound folk how best to care for Silver in his new home. Hers.
Around the same time, a small volunteer dog rescue group in Canberra was calling in every favour when 10 designer puppies were rescued from a life no-one should live. These selfless volunteers came from everywhere to care for these puppies, most of which only knew life in a small cage and food that they had to fight each other for.
When these heroes go in to rescue these dogs, when they see the conditions they live in, and the way humans treat them, they deserve an award, of course, for doing what they do, but more so, an award for restraining themselves from abusing the abusers.
Since their rescue, all the pups have been vet-checked, clipped, washed, groomed, fed and watered – and cuddled to within an inch of their lives. They will be cared for as long as they need to be, and homed to the best homes – when they’re ready.
Canberra is blessed with so many remarkable little animal rescue groups. They sell sausages for their (dogs’) supper at hardware stores on Saturdays and Sundays, they beg for donations they can raffle off, they bake, they stage trivia nights – anything, really, to give neglected, abused and unwanted animals a reason to want to live.
Then of course there is the RSPCA and Domestic Animal Services which care for the animals on a more business-like basis, but you have to wonder, how long must they be forced to beg to provide properly for these animals?
Seems like the RSPCA, which probably bears the brunt of the load, has been in need of new facilities since it was a pup. But it needs big bucks for this and, with much of its annual fundraising going to everyday expenses like feeding and caring for the animals, and paying vets and staff, there’s little left for the big ticket item – a new home.
As a famous dog-lover once said, “do yourself a favour” … and help those who can’t help themselves.
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