On Breed Rescue Groups
A little while back, someone commented (sorry, but I couldn't find the comment) that each time a greyhound is adopted, a dog in a shelter isn't. Just yesterday, I received an e-mail from Beverly, who is "really curious about whether or not the folks in greyhound adoption groups ever experience any cognitive dissonance from having to 'not rescue' the racing greyhound with the broken leg or the breeder who's been overbred and now presents with compromised immune systems etc."
Here are my thoughts . . .
Breed rescue groups are not the problem. Breeding is the problem. The fact that the racing of dogs is for some strange reason a legitimate activity is the problem. If it weren't, tens of thousands of greyhounds wouldn't be bred each year, and thousands wouldn't be killed before they even get to a track. Now, when racing is abolished, you know that greyhounds will continue to be bred, as they are now for "show," and I'm sure that level of breeding will increase as people will also want them as "pets." So again, we come back to breeding.
Breed rescue groups often have limited resources, and if they have, say $1,000 that can be spent on rescuing a handful of dogs who are relatively healthy, or one dog with a broken leg, guess what? This is not to say they don't care about the broken leg dog; in their mind they're simply making a financial decision.
The group that adopted Charles to me has started accepting broken leg dogs as a matter of policy (one or two at a time). Remember that once a dog is injured or a female is spent, they are simply discarded. The owners won't spend a penny on them. So it's up to the rescue group to take them in, pay for whatever treatment they need, including rehabilitation, then find a home for them. And you'd be surprised how many people won't adopt a dog who had a broken leg or who has a lot of scars. (Greyhounds often have scars along their left sides from hitting the rail, which burns off their hair and skin. Then there are the scars from fights, as the dogs aren't well socialized and are extremely frustrated due to living in a cage for over 20 hours a day.)
Fortunately for greyhounds, there are people like those at Arizona Greyhound Rescue:
"Greyhounds break their legs, hocks, and bones during their racing career. It’s a fact of racing life. Since Arizona Greyhound Rescue is a rescue group, we rescue dogs in good condition and not so good condition. We’ve rescued greyhounds with all kinds of broken bones who have gone on to have wonderful lives as pampered family dogs."
Greyhound Adoptions of Florida takes in and adopts broods, retired stud dogs, broken leg dogs and other "cast aways." And then there's the wonderful Greyhound Gang and its Leg Up Fund, which often funds the work done at Greyhound Adoptions of Florida.
"The Gang has always had a special place for special needs greyhounds. Those that owners don't want, and other groups don’t have the time, expertise, or money to handle. This has included greyhounds, who:
- Have fractured bones
- Are Shy/spooky
- Initially Act Aggressive
- Are Older
- Require extensive medical work
- Have Expensive medical issues"
The Greyhound Gang also works hard to get the word out that young females aren't the only hounds who make great companions and that "Golden Oldies," "Black Boys,"Bashful Hounds" ("Best Kept Secrets") are usually overlooked, yet need homes nonetheless and deserve a chance.
So yes, there are greyhound adoption groups, and I'm sure breed rescue groups, who almost always take in gorgeous, healthy, well-mannered dogs to adopt out. But there are also people who make it their business to help dogs that are discriminated against and discarded, and who are costly to care for.
Anyone who rescues animals is doing a good thing. No, we can't rescue them all. That's a sad fact. But it's not the rescuer's fault. They aren't the one who caused the situation where animals needed to be rescued.
Dogs, in general, are a lot of work. My husband and I joke that each dog is like 5-10 cats. We could have the home we have now, with 4 rescued cats and 2 dogs, or… we could have a home of 10-20 rescued cats and no dogs. The latter would save more lives, but that's not how life happens. Each cat and each dog has a unique story about how he or she came into our lives. We never said, "hey, let's adopt a few dogs so we can't save as many cat lives."
Likewise, if we bought a ranch and adopted some goats and pigs, we wouldn't have room for more dogs. And since we have cats and dogs, we can't easily adopt needy rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, or birds.
Sure, there are trade-offs. But rescuers are not to blame for our limited resources. We can only do so much. Some people want to rescue greyhounds, great. Others want to rescue pound dogs, great. It's all rescue and it's all good.
Yes breeding is an issue – the PR folks believe that outlawing greyhound racing will automatically lead to the demise of the greyhound breed. As for the "adoption" groups – the query about cognitive dissonance" arose from this very simple fact: when a dog breaks its leg and is judged unfit for racing, the dog is sometimes placed with adoption/rescue groups. It is the adoption group that pays the vet bill – often over $1000 – to surgically repair the leg and give the dog a chance for a rehomed life. A lot of tracks here in Florida do not inform the adoption groups for at least 24-72 hours – as the handlers and trainers attempt to get permission from dog's out of state owner. Rarely do these dogs receive anything more than minimal vet attention – how would you like to sit around on a floor with a broken &/or shattered leg without medical attention? That the groups take these dogs is a wonderful and compassionate act – that they use their limited funds to vet these dogs is likewise praise-worthy – but to NOT speak out against this abuse – the willful neglect – by the racing industry because the adoption groups must remain "neutral" in order to have access to the dogs – just boggles the mind. Basically, the greyhound adoption groups must willingly blind and mute themselve to the abuses in order to save the dogs.
For all who do not know, Beverly is addressing a serious problem: Because many groups are funded by the tracks, they are not vocally anti-racing. They will say it's because that would be like lobbying and they're not allowed to lobby as a 501c3, but that's bunkum. It's advocating, and they're allowed to advocate. Some groups aren't at all against racing, and will let you know that, and you don't see them being fearful of speaking their minds.
There is either a real or a mythical "blacklist" of adoption groups, and those on the list aren't given dogs as punishment for speaking out against racing. Kind of like our own government's Watch List, the idea is to strike fear and keep people from dissenting. It's maddening that, as Beverly writes, "he greyhound adoption groups must willingly blind and mute themselves to the abuses in order to save the dogs."
I'm certainly in agreement with Elaine – "It's all rescue and it's all good".
I see the issue and distastefulness of having an organization deliberately gagged in order to save the dogs… On a much smaller scale I know first hand how this works. The guys that helped me rescuse (my) hens from an egg farm were devoted omnivores. One actually was a "master griller" at these traveling animal-parts cookouts they call "barbeques". "Chicken" was his "specialty"… Ironically, these 12 girls were transported from the warehouse to their new home in a giant grill box! Believe it – there were many times I wanted to "correct" everything that was so wrong about the issue – to make everything right by acknowleging that their conversations and jokes were offensive, ignorant and mean… vicious, disgusting – everyone here knows all the adjectives. But I stayed silent – and patient… it's about saving lives.