The Greyhound Sanctuary is a small charity based in the West Country. Established in 2007 our main aim is to rescue and rehome abandoned, abused or unwanted greyhounds. We have four double kennel spaces at a local boarding kennels, Kinnings Farm boarding and rescue in Chittlehamholt and have recently established a separate sanctuary in Winswell Water. This will be an additional place of safety either for greyhounds for rehoming, or, if that is not possible, somewhere for them to spend the rest of their lives in peace.
WHY DO WE RESCUE?
A QUESTION OFTEN ASKED
Dogs like Minnie are one of the reasons. Minnie, an 11 year
old female greyhound, in the terrible conditions she was being kept in.
This dog was found in the UK along with several others. Minnie is now
in a great home.
These are the others:
Tens of thousands of dogs are disposed of every year by the British
greyhound racing industry - because they fail to make the grade as
racers or when their racing days are over.
About 25,000 greyhound pups are
registered every year in the British
Isles. The number bred is actually many thousands more than this, when
taking into account pups that never get registered and those killed by
breeders at a very young age.
Although most of these dogs
are bred in Ireland, the majority are produced to supply the demands of
the British greyhound racing industry. Thousands of greyhound pups and
young dogs are put to death because they fail to reach racing
standards. It is estimated that over 10,000 are killed annually in the
British Isles.
Dogs which actually make it to the track are
very likely to experience suffering during their racing careers. It has
been estimated that greyhounds running on British tracks sustain more
than 12,000 injuries every year and that 10% of dogs that race are
already suffering from injuries. Injured toes, torn muscles, strained
tendons and arthritic joints are commonplace.
At least
10,000 greyhounds ‘retire’ from racing in Britain every year, at an
average age of just 2½ years old. This is either because of
injury or
because they are adjudged to be no longer good enough to race. Very few
of these dogs manage to find good homes. This is hardly surprising,
given a situation where many thousands of ordinary dogs are put to
sleep every year because no homes are available for them.
Many
ex-racing greyhounds are simply abandoned and a large number are
killed, sometimes by extremely cruel methods such as drowning or
poisoning, because some owners and trainers are not prepared to pay the
cost of having them put to sleep by a vet. Many are abandoned on roads
risking injury or death from passing traffic, remote areas such as
moors where they starve to death or left in sheds in the dark day after
day with no warmth, little food and living on hard concrete floors.
The
Greyhound Sanctuary tries to help the dire situation in Ireland by
working with Irish Greyhound rescues. Whenever possible the charity
will try to react to a plea for help however it is simply not always
possible because of a lack of space.
We desperately need to
rehome the dogs we rescue and rehabilitate and need all the help we can
get to do this. Every time a dog is rehomed, it leaves space for
another who is just waiting patiently for someone to give it a life.
