USA, MA: Cambridge residents winning the race to find greyho

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From www.wickedlocal.com

Cambridge residents winning the race to find greyhounds a home

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Erin Baldassari/Wicked Local Cambridge

Cambridge resident Cindy Sorenson walks her greyhound Holly. Sorenson said
she has been adopting greyhounds for nearly 20 years.

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By Erin Baldassari/ebaldassari@wickedlocal.com

Wicked Local Cambridge <http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge>

Posted Aug 25, 2012 @ 09:40 AM

Cambridge -

When Greyhound Friends founder Louise Coleman first started the non-profit
greyhound shelter out of her Cambridge apartment, tens of thousands of
greyhounds were being killed each year. Now, 26 years later, Coleman is
still placing hundreds of greyhounds a year.

"It was a desperate situation," Coleman said. "There's no more greyhound
racing in New England, but now we bring the dogs up from Florida."

Seven states still allow greyhound racing, according to the American
Greyhound Council, a national advocacy agency that manages greyhound
welfare, research and adoption. Of the 23 tracks in the United States today,
13 are housed in Florida.

Coleman said her organization currently places 350 greyhounds a year, but it
wasn't always that way. Greyhound Friends got a modest start when Coleman
first heard from a friend that a Wonderland track dog, Boston Boy, would be
killed if nobody took him in. She said she went with her son to the track on
Mother's Day, 1983, to pick him up.

"We liked him a lot and pretty soon the trainer started calling me to see if
I wanted another dog," Coleman said.

One dog turned into two, then three. Coleman said that having the dog as a
pet allowed others to see how they behaved off the track, and she convinced
friends, acquaintances, anyone she knew to take them.

"We had five or six or seven at one time," Coleman said, before they started
boarding them at the Brookline Animal Hospital. "I remember my first
placement was a really great Irish racer named Glenn Garscott."

Still, it wasn't easy. Long-time volunteer and founding member Joyce Wasson
said the Friends operated on a shoestring budget. The organization
incorporated as non-profit in 1986, Coleman said, but Wasson said it wasn't
until the early 1990s that they really had the funding to operate
sufficiently.

Eventually, the Friends were able to purchase and renovate the current
kennel in Hopkinton, Mass, housing 30 greyhounds at a time. Coleman said she
likes to match each greyhound, which have their own personalities and
preferences, with people who have similar dispositions.

"It's like putting puzzle pieces together," Coleman said. "We talk with
people to get a sense of what their lives are like and we try to match them
up dogs that will be good for both of them."

Cambridge resident and Paddy's Lunch owner Ruth Ryan Allen said that as soon
as Coleman discovered she had once been a veterinary nurse, Coleman picked
the hound that was right for her.

"She guided me to a dog that had broken its leg and on the way up (to the
kennel), all of his skin and fur had come off in patches. He was having an
awful time," Allen said. "But it was perfect timing for both of us.He was
meant to be mine."

Nearly every greyhound owner will tell you that his or her hound is
something special. Maybe it's the pride particular to any pet owner, but
greyhound holders describe their dogs as gentle and calm, great for walking
and lounging, the perfect city pet.

"They don't need a fenced in yard, they're used to small spaces, they have
to be on leashes, and they sleep a lot, so they're great for the city," said
Cambridge resident Cindy Sorenson, a greyhound owner since 1992.

Their mild manner can be traced back over 8,000 years from cave paintings to
early decorative artifacts, from the tombstones of ancient Egyptian kings to
Greek mythology, from medieval Europe to the more modern European
aristocracy. Greyhounds have long been associated with the upper rankings of
society, a dog prized for its eyesight, speed, and stately physique.

"It's the king of dogs. It's been with humans for centuries," Wasson said.
"They're highly intelligent, have high sensitivity, beauty, and they're
present in art."

While the dogs may hail from an elite caste, owners who keep them today have
created a caste of their own.

"It's almost like a cult," Allen said, jokingly. "But, it's not, it's a good
thing."

The dogs lost much of their stature in the early 20th century when greyhound
racing became a betting sport, Wasson said. Greyhounds coming straight off
the track have histories unlike any other domesticated dog, Sorenson said.
They've been raised with their litter for a year before being shipped off to
a training farm where the pups are separated by racing grade.

They're kept on a tight schedule, Coleman said, which makes them
particularly well suited to owners with nine-to-five jobs. But it also means
they've never seen things like stairs or glass doors, or in some cases, dogs
of another breed.

"The first time Rizzo saw another dog other than a greyhound, he looked at
it like he had no idea what it was, and then it barked at him and I thought
he had a heart attack," Allen said. "The second time it, he was better. It
does take a little patience to train them."

While most of the hounds come in healthy, Sorenson said they sometimes have
trouble with things like Kibble after having dined on a specific diet of
soft food. Otherwise, Sorenson said it's just a matter of being careful.

"They haven't had the whole puppy thing," Sorenson said. "They've been in
this other world and you take them out and everything is new."

While there may be fewer tracks, Wasson said the newest trend of breeding
greyhounds with other hunting hounds is producing dogs that aren't desired.
Coleman takes in those dogs, too.

Thinking of adopting a greyhound? Visit Greyhound Friend's open house in
Hopkinton on Sept. 22 or Sept. 23 from noon - 4 p.m. Can't make it that
weekend? The Greyhound Friends kennel is open every day to the public from 9
a.m. - 5 p.m.

Visit greyhound.org for more information.

Contact Cambridge Chronicle staff reporter Erin Baldassari at 617-629-3390
or ebaldassari@wickedlocal.com.