EN: GPA Irish Greyhounds to America program

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EN: GPA Irish Greyhounds to America program

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For those who have been following the progress of the GPA Irish Greyhounds to America program, below is an edited version of my report to the members of our adoption group, GPA-Atlanta, about the arrival of 7 Irish Greyhounds in Atlanta this past Thursday evening.


It was "a rainy night in Georgia" as the Atlanta 7 Irish Greyhounds landed in their British Airways 787 at 7:41 pm last night, officially 51 minutes late. Luckily, their flight landed safely just ahead of a thunderstorm front that resulted in a ground stop at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport for about 45 minutes. There was driving rain on the tarmac as the plane pulled up to the gate, so the ground crew waited until the rain lessened to unload the Greyhound crates so that the dogs wouldn't get wet in transit from the plane to the air cargo terminal. The Greyhounds were safely ensconced in their enormous "luxury suite" crates on board, and seemed none the worse for wear due to the delays.
SEGA stalwarts Charles Parrott, Jennifer Castlen, Julie Adams, and Nora and Michael Burns joined me at the air cargo terminal to await the Greyhounds' arrival.
After waiting what seemed like an eternity, we saw the crates being brought into the terminal and assembled in the area outside the enclosure where those picking up cargo are required to wait. When I kept seeing inanimate cargo being moved ahead of the dogs, I "suggested" to the terminal workers, with some volume, that perhaps they should give priority to the cargo with a heartbeat. My fellow greeters shushed me a bit, but the workers did seem to get the message and started bringing the crates over to our "waiting enclosure." It was actually a very convenient area, as we had the security guard close the bay door to the outside for us so that we could let the Greyhounds out of the crates in a completely enclosed area.
Since the crates were so big and heavy, they were brought to us one by one on a forklift. The forklift operator took great care to keep the crates low and level so that the Greyhounds in them wouldn't get anxious.
Once all 7 crates were in our enclosure, the "collaring up" process started. Since airline regulations prohibit the dogs wearing collars in the crate, we identified each Greyhound by its packet of papers taped to the outside of its crate, then opened each crate door and put a martingale collar on each dog along with a paper collar with its name written on it.
Each Greyhound walked out of its crate calmly and quietly, with the exception of Debbie's Penny. She went to the back of her crate and refused to come out. When Jenny tried to get a collar on her, she gave the "Greyhound scream of death," so we decided to get all the other Greyhounds out of their crates and then try her again. When it came her turn again, we stood one of the other Greyhounds outside her crate so she could see him and coaxed her out. Once she saw the other Greyhound, she walked out of her crate under her own steam and stood quietly while being collared and leashed up. Jenny transported Debbie's Penny and the other girls to the adoption kennel and reported that she rode well and seemed to be completely over her initial spookiness. It must have been a case of feeling like a "stranger in a strange land" when she was outside the view of her fellow Greyhounds.
Once the Greyhounds were all out of their crates and wearing collars and leashes, we opened the big bay door and walked them across the big terminal parking lot to a grassy area, where they all proceeded to "pee like racehorses." Charles reported that his charge, Cappagh Shadow, must have watered the grass for a full 5 minutes !
Once all the Greyhounds had emptied, we loaded them up into two vehicles -- the four boys went in my Transit in crates, while the three girls rode loose in Jenny's Pacifica van. My passengers were complete gentlemen on the drive through Atlanta to Acworth and didn't utter a peep, and Jenny reported the same about her three ladies.
The last chore before leaving the air cargo terminal was to load the crates onto an open trailer Charles had brought down, to be taken to his handyman neighbor, who plans to make chicken coops out of them. Two of the terminal employees helped us with all the lifting and securing, and Julie kindly dipped into her purse to give them each a nice "tip" for their help. We completely maxed out the trailer with the crates and had to put one of them in the back of Charles' SUV. We're talking BIG crates here !
Charles arrived home safely with the crates, and Jenny and I arrived at the LCAH adoption kennel with the Greyhounds about 30 minutes apart. We walked them again, and fed them a small bit of kibble, which they all enjoyed fully. Our thanks to Ginny Bowling for getting their runs all set up with their name cards on the doors -- that was a tremendous time saver for us and at 11:00 pm was much appreciated !
The adoptions of the Irish Greyhounds begin on Saturday, as our Screening and Placement chairs Suzanne and Eda have had approved applicants matched up with them for a couple of weeks. Get by the kennel to see them if you get a chance !
Our thanks to all who followed closely this initiative and kept fingers crossed with us through every stumbling block that the various cargo and airline bureaucracies threw at our Irish colleagues.
I hope you enjoy the photos, which were taken by Michael Burns.


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Nur wer einmal seinen Windhund jagen gesehen hat, der weiß, was er an der Leine hat!
Michaela
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