Hello Fellow Spud Buds!
Exciting news!
We just placed our 50th Greyhound! Not bad for a "start up"
as our lawyers, Steve and Mary Hemmert call us. Our first two Greys
were placed in June of 2001. That was Dawn and Guiness. A huge thank
you to Joyce McRorie and her group, GPA/OC, for providing us with such
wonderful dogs and Pat & Carol Catterin for flying them up. Also
to all who have met us in Buttonwillow, Tom McRorie, Julie Stroud, Dana
and Marcia McNamar, etc. What a "greyt" team to work with.
Congratulations
to our new adopters:
James & Lynn Brooks and family who adopted a beautiful
black brindle named Mia. Her new name is Phoebe. They live up in Granite
Bay.
Bill & Lynn McCullough adopted Holly. It took a
dozen people to accomplish this adoption. I like to think it took
a "village" to find a greyt home for shy Holly. Her new
home is in McArthur.
Jeff Hudgens & Tonya Ackerman and family who adopted
Ecco, now Echo. He is now enjoying life in the big city of San Francisco.
Carol & Evan Strovers who adopted Nameless. After
much trial and error, Nameless is now Rufus Buffalo which suites him
perfectly. His new home is in Sunnyvale.
And now for number 50:
Jim & Petree Knighton adopted Doc Martin. They fell in love with
him during our home visit and we soon knew it was a perfect match.
He is now called Dolittle and also lives in San Francisco.
Thank you all for giving a retired racing Greyhound a
wonderful "forever
home."
The story of how this last
group of Greys arrived up here is one of an
amazing set of coincidences and events:
Scott & Ann Sanders and Jack Fishbaugh were doing
the overland transport from this end. This was on Saturday, right in
the middle of the San Mateo Home Show. Dick & Delene Dunne with
lots of help from all of you, held down the fort at the Home Show so
they could do this. When Scott and Ann hit I-5, they merged in behind
a white van with an "Adopt a Greyhound" sign on the back.
Then they noticed that the phone number was their own home phone number.
It was Jack Fishbaugh. The chances of all of them hitting I-5 at the
same time, 200 miles from their destination, was pretty amazing. They
were to meet up with Tom McRorie and Julie Stroud at Wheeler Ridge to
pick up seven dogs. Five to go with Ann & Scott and two with Jack.
The transfer of dogs went perfectly. The hand-off was made and all took
off for their respective destinations.
Unfortunately, it soon became clear that Ann & Scott
had a problem. The
bags with the Greyhound's goodies and paperwork had fallen over and
were creating havoc in the back of their van. They stopped at the next
exit and pulled in to the Chevron station. Now, all the Greyhounds are
muzzled for transport; (see attached picture) it is safer since many
have just been spayed or neutered and still have stitches and are sore.
| Unfortunately, it soon became clear that Ann &
Scott had a problem. |
| The bags with the Greyhound's
goodies and paperwork had fallen over and were creating havoc in
the back of their van. They stopped at the next exit and pulled
in to the Chevron station. Now, all the Greyhounds are muzzled for
transport; (see attached picture) it
is safer since many have just been spayed or neutered and still
have stitches and are sore. |
Click
for larger image |
The first thing Scott did was to gather up all the leashes
to take the dogs
out so that Ann could rearrange the back. He had five leashes in hand
and out jumped five dogs. Unfortunately, only four leashes were attached
to dogs; Reebok was unhooked and was sauntering over to a tree to answer
nature's call. In hurrying after Reebok, Scott was dropping leashes,
each time thinking it was the one not attached to a dog. Ann was hurrying
after him picking them up. It was utter chaos for 10 or 15 seconds as
they tried to sort everything out, catch Reebok, who had hung up from
his call, and hang on to the other four. Soon all were collected and
leashed, the back of the van was rearranged, dogs back in the van and
they were off.
As they continued up I-5, the situation flashed back on
them. This whole
episode was witnessed by at least twenty or thirty people, waiting in
line
for the restrooms, trying to figure out what was going on; two people
scrambling after 5 dogs, none of whom seemed to know that they were
loose. No one came forward as the muzzles make the Greys look far more
vicious than they are. What a sight they must have been.
We've just completed the
first set of "Greyhound Only" obedience classes. A big thank
you to Joanne and Karen for doing a wonderful job. Greys and owners
had a "greyt" time. There is another beginner / intermediate
class starting March 7th at 7:45PM. The cost is, again, $100 for seven
weeks. The class lasts one hour. There are spots still open. For anyone
who cannot make it the first night, you can still sign up. The fee will
be prorated. Anyone interested please contact Sherrlyn at 408-448-0807
or her e-mail is SherrlynL@sbcglobal.net
Here's a recipe for those
persistent diggers. It was submitted by Tania
Shapiro, mother of Rayo who is one of our world class diggers. Take
several peeled garlic cloves, put them in a blender with quite a bit
of water and blend, mix in some nutmeg and spray over the area that
you want to cover. It smells really strong and seems to last for a few
days or until it rains! It's a greyt deterrent. Thank you Tania.
Just a little reminder for
your surfers: Easter is at the end of March, lots
of candy/chocolate around and you won't want to share with your Greys.
Chocolate can especially harm your wonderful, "greyt" companions.
Pet suppliers have appropriate treats you can offer.
We have lots of Show &
Tells scheduled for now through August. The next is at the PetSmart
in Santa Cruz. It's on March 9th from 11 - 4. The address
is 490 River St., Santa Cruz, and the phone number is 831-429-2780.
Weather permitting, after the show, we are planning on going over to
the beach to let our Greys work off steam. Let us know if you can make
it. You can e-mail me at sassae@att.net.
An announcement: As of now,
Sherrlyn Lancaster is my assistant. She will
be helping me with many of the projects we are currently working on.
Thank you Sherrlyn.
I would also like to congratulate Sherrlyn & Tom Lancaster,
Sylvia Olsen and Eugene Lukehart. Our newest placement reps. GREYT!
Time to get out your calendars.
Here is a list of all the upcoming events
scheduled so far:
April 20th & 21st - San Juan
Bautista
Fine Arts and Quality Crafts Festival
|
April 27th & 28th - Fremont
Spring Art, Food & Music Festival
|
May 4th - GPA/OC Annual Picnic
|
May 18th & 19th - Campbell
Prune Festival
|
June 7th, 8th & 9th
- San Jose Spring
Home & Garden Show
|
June 8th & 9th - Pleasanton
Heritage Festival
|
July 13th & 14th - San Juan
Bautista
Fine Arts and Quality Crafts Festival |
Hope you can make at least one of these events. They are
lots of fun for
all.
We are progressing forward
to the day when we will directly rescue our own Greyhounds from the
track and no longer be so heavily dependent on GPA/OC. The volume of
dogs that they are supplying to us and for their own adopters, is putting
a tremendous strain on them and their system. This means that we will
incur the expense of spaying/neutering, blood work, dental, worming,
shots, etc. Unfortunately, the current fee we charge for the dogs will
likely come up short of covering these expenses.
Check with the company you work for, to see if they provide
matching funds for charitable contributions. This would be a "Greyt"
way to boost any donations you might make to Greyhound Adoption California.
You may also have co-workers who would want to donate to a cause, where
they can see a positive benefit of their contribution. We are also working
on becoming a United Way fund.
Have a wonderful Spring and a Very Happy Easter.
Ann & Scott Sanders
Greyhound Adoption California
Greyhound Pets of America
Northern California
408 749-0899
sassae@att.net
www.greyhoundadoptioncalifornia.com
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