Operations News
The Greyt Winter Festival lived up to its name this year. It was a fantastic day with over 70 participants and 20-plus hounds strutting their stuff, fabulous food, auction items and “Greyt” fellowship. More than $4,700 was raised to benefit Jackie’s Fund. Little did we know that the newest Jackie’s Fund hound would be heading our way. Let me explain.
On Saturday, March 1, we welcomed three greyhounds from a farm in Kansas, two brood moms and a lovely young boy. These hounds resulted from a collaboration among several greyhound adoption groups throughout Colorado, New Mexico, California and Arizona. We received the list of our allotted hounds two days after the festival.
U.S. farm dogs present different challenges than their counterparts in Australia or Ireland. When receiving hounds from Australia or Ireland, we are provided with extensive information about the hounds’ overall health and temperament. U.S. hounds often come to us with little or no information. This isn’t a good or bad thing; it’s just different.
Our lovely male 2-year-old Tiger came to us with a known injury. You might be thinking of another
broken hock. Nope. This is a little different, and I had to school myself on it. Tiger had a Fibrocartilaginous Embolus (FCE). FCE is when the fibrocartilage tissue found primarily in the joints breaks off, travels through the bloodstream and causes death to part of the spinal cord. We’re not sure when this happened, although his last race was in November 2024, so we can only assume it happened while racing or shortly thereafter. My reading indicates this is more common in large-breed dogs and can occur after trauma or exercise. While the initial event is painful, the pain subsides within a few minutes, but the damage to the spinal cord is permanent. Tiger does show some hind end weakness and a wonky gait, but he is the sweetest, most easy-going boy you have ever met.
Tiger is being cared for by a wonderful couple who are familiar with special needs hounds. Our vets initially evaluated him and referred him to a neurologist to determine the extent of his injury.
I tell you about Tiger to illustrate how important your donations are. Your generous giving allows us to help hounds like Tiger. We will go the distance with this sweet boy and give him all the tools he needs to live his best life.
Arizona Gives Day is April 1 (NO JOKE), and you will read more about Tiger’s journey in upcoming emails and social media posts. We hope you will continue to support hounds like him. Your generous donations allow us to continue to say YES to each hound that comes our way, no matter what.
Always moving forward,
Nancy