Fiona
Foster Coordinator
“I first met a greyhound in a boutique homewares store in Crouch End, a local suburb to us in London. This store was a converted house so it was multiple small rooms and it was crammed floor to ceiling, you could hardly move in the place. James was the owners grey, he was huge and just laid about the place, you had to step over him to get anywhere in the store. I thought he was absolutely fabulous and what a life to be that chilled out. Sarah and I started looking at greyhounds to adopt, we knew of the racing track that had closed down and there was an influx of greys in kennels. We booked that next weekend to visit the kennels, we chose an older girl at 8yrs called Steffi to meet, when we arrived they gave us another grey so we walked two, the other grey was Sophia and that was who we chose to adopt and would pick up the following week post a successful home check. We were the first couple who worked business hours that they agreed to consider adopting too, we had a dog walker on standby and I had taken 2 weeks holiday to settle her in. We were approved and that was our intro to the world of greys and we have never not lived with one since.”
What inspired you to get involved with greyhound rescue and adoption?
At the point we had adopted Sophia we knew nothing about greyhound racing other than London tracks were closing down. We were involved with the greyhound kennel we adopted Sophia from, events to raise money and a group walk to showcase the breed monthly. It was not until we moved to Australia that we really understood the plight of the greyhound. We happened to meet Gumtree Greys at Hank Mark, it was a social meet up for Sophia to meet other greys. We had no idea how we would forever be involved with the charity, we were asked to foster a young boy called Bear, then a young puppy with wonky legs called Winnie who we foster failed with and adopted. Throughout the first year of our involvement we came to understand how corrupt the industry is, that many greys are discarded at such a young age and their welfare is far from regulated. We then supported the charity by running the markets twice a month, showcasing the breed and promoting foster and adoption. Sarah has since helped the charity with marketing and branding, I became a foster co-ordinator, managing all greys coming in from trainers/owners, placing them into foster care and seeing them through to being placed online for adoption.
What do you find most rewarding about helping greyhounds find their forever homes?
Meeting the greys on rescue day is amazing, their first day of freedom, knowing that they are on their way to a new life of love and care is worth every kilometre driven. We and our community give them a chance of being a pet, part of a family and ultimately a chance of life.
Our community is incredibly supportive of our work, I can call on them to help me with transport and emergency care. It feels like we are a massive family that helps these greys.