WatchMyHound

HollySpringsHounds · Joined: 20 Dec 2005 Posts: 571 Location: Holly Springs, NC

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From the track to the couch
Meet-n-Greet unites retired Greyhounds, possible owners
Anita B. Stone, Correspondent

RALEIGH - The dogs caught Natalie Peterson's eye while shopping Saturday at Triangle Town Center.
"Once you see the dogs, they stay in your mind," said the Wake Forest resident. "I definitely will adopt one when the time is right."

It was the kind of reaction the Triangle Greyhound Society, which arranged Saturday's Meet-n-Greet, likes to hear.

The group, which encourages greyhound adoption after their racing days are over, says the animals are well suited as pets.

Although the Greyhound Racing Association of America disputes that the dogs are mistreated, as many activists assert, the industry group acknowledges that many dogs will have to be euthanized unless more are adopted.

Joan Rogers, a member of the society who owns two greyhounds, said she'd rather have greyhounds than children.

"Greyhounds are less maintenance than children these days," said Rogers, 75.

About 90 percent of racing greyhounds are adopted when they retire, according to the society's Web site,

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The dogs' docile temperament allows them to be used in prisons to help prisoners learn responsibility. The dogs are also taken to nursing homes and are used in reading programs for autistic and at-risk children.

Lynn Road Elementary School and Douglas Elementary School in North Raleigh have successfully employed therapy assistant dogs in their reading programs.

"They are very disciplined and even-tempered," says Esther Rock, 69, of Wood Valley, a Triangle Greyhound Society volunteer. She has adopted two.

"Greyhounds are like potato chips," she said. "You can't just have one and be satisfied."

Greyhounds date back to more than 4,000 years ago and were brought to America in the 1800s, to help control the jack rabbit population.

"Greyhounds are sprinters, not long distance runners," said Christine Murgas, a North Raleigh owner of three rescued greyhounds. "They don't require any more exercise than other dogs their size. We call them '45-mile-an-hour couch potatoes' because they love to lay on the couch."

Correspondent Anita Stone can be reached at

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Christina
and the Hounds