President’s Message-August 2025
As summer is coming to an end, planning has already begun for the next group of Aussie hounds due to arrive in October. I thought this month I would give you a little inside information on what goes into bringing Aussie hounds to Arizona. We don’t transport dogs in the summer unless there are extenuating circumstances, but we do plan for them.
Our amazing Foster Coordinator Anne Lopez and Operations Director Nancy Lynberg have been making contacts throughout the summer for availability of fosters and adopters and determining exactly how many hounds will make their way across the world. Once we know how many we can take, we contact Derarca at Racing 2 Rehome to get the ball rolling. That has to happen about six weeks before we actually start the process for getting the import permit. When Derarca has the dogs identified, Nancy and Anne start matching up dogs to fosters and potential adopters so we have all that set before the dogs even get their final physicals and get on the airplane in Melbourne.
Once we have all the dogs identified and all their import paperwork from Australia such as vaccines, spay/neuter, microchip and, of course, their tattoo and date of birth information we can start working on the import permit and lining up a customs broker to get them officially into the United States.
When I get the permit submitted it takes anywhere from one to five days to get it approved and back to us. Once its back, all the paperwork and permit, that all gets sent to Pet Express and our broker. Once the dogs land at LAX, Pet Express can pick them up at Qantas Cargo and get them to their facility. This is where the dogs are able to get some energy out in their beautiful outdoor exercise area, get fed and have a good night to just relax and decompress or get veterinarian assistance if necessary.
Our transportation team, which has included: Janet Harvey, Dennis Appel, Sarah Hosea, Phyllis Schaefer, Joan and Paul Athey and Carol Kenny. Jeanne or Nancy make transport plans and hotel reservations for the overnight stay in Los Angeles. The group heads to LA the day before the dogs arrive so we can pick them up first thing the next morning and head back to Tucson.
If we don’t take the dogs directly to Lazy Grey Ranch, the dogs are dropped off, one by one, with their assigned fosters. Last time all were in their foster homes by 7:30 p.m.
As you can see, there are a lot of moving pieces and parts that have to happen before dogs arrive in Arizona. Do you want to be part of the transportation team? Email me: jeanne@sagreys.org. It’s a fast trip but a rewarding experience.
Jeanne Gacke is President of Southern Arizona Greyhound Adoption and can be reached at president@sagreys.org.