Hitchhiking hounds! :)

By Fatima |

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Our foster greyhound Hugo: I might need a ride...

Ever since I started this blog, a  number of my readers have asked how they could help greyhounds needing homes. Today I thought to do a post on that.

Some of the more obvious ways to help is fostering, donations, Steadfast friends and similar.
These are all explained on GAP website.
However, these are not the only things you can do! :)

One of the big challenges we face is transporting our hounds around the country.

Many of them get adopted, for example, by a family in Auckland. However, then our GAP kennel managers (Sonja and Irene) face yet another job : finding a ride for the dog to go to his new home. Many trainers help - if they are racing in Wanganui or Palmy, have free space in their trailer and if they live up North.
Some of our volunteers help too -by doing roadtrips to and from Sanson, taking dogs to their new homes. However, volunteers' time is limited, and trainers often dont have extra space in their vehicles and trailers.

As a result, sometimes it takes a week or even two weeks or more to find a ride for a greyhound who has a home already :( This of course means that that greyhound is taking space in the kennels or in a foster home, and as we all know, kennel space is VERY limited and foster homes are few. :(
IF we could get that greyhound to his/her new home faster -that means that another ex-racer can retire and come to GAP sooner!
Also, we have foster homes in Auckland -and sometimes fostered Auckland hounds need to be transported BACK to Sanson - after they dont need fostering any more, or need to go to their new home in, say, Wellington.

So this is where you can make a BIG difference.
Do you travel for work or pleasure, anywhere south of Auckland?
It does not have to be Palmerston North, or Wellington. If you come to Taupo regularly, for example, that can be a big help as we could easily meet you in Taupo and give you a greyhound to take to Auckland! How about your partner, friends, family members? Do you have a bach in Taupo maybe, which you come to often, or do you come skiing to Ruapehu over winter? Perhaps you have family in New Plymouth that you visit often? Maybe you have someone coming from Hawkes Bay who visits you often?

ALL these trips can make a huge difference to greyhounds and to GAP.

If you or anyone you know might be able to help with this, do contact me on favdich@yahoo.co.nz