President’s Message-July 2026

What a difference a decade makes. Just a little more than 10 years ago, Tucson Greyhound Park (TGP) closed its doors forever. I was not part of the organization when the track was open but am grateful for all who were and for ALL they did for those dogs! I want to thank Karyn for all the history and information she has been providing these past months.

Today’s landscape and operations are a bit different in a few ways. While we still use Lazy Grey Ranch, Briarcrest Veterinary, receive dogs with hookworms and still will get Jackie’s Fund dogs, it is certainly not at the pace it was back then.

Today SA Greys is more calculating when bringing in greyhounds unless there is a track closure and we need to help much like we did for Caliente race track and will do so if the two West Virginia dog tracks close their doors.

By calculating, I mean we schedule when and how many dogs we bring in. It is based upon how many applications and fosters we have available. As we begin to plan for incoming hounds this fall, we have fewer applications and approved adopters than in years past. This seems to be the case for some of the other greyhound organizations in Arizona as well.

As many of you heard at the January in-person board meeting, our incoming applications and approved adopters list have both slowed down and are almost half of what they were last year. This could certainly be attributed to multiple reasons and we will continue to do everything we can to bring in new hounds and help hounds where we can.

The closing of TGP and the way we operate now also changed the way people met and adopted their greys. We no longer do meet and greets. Instead now receive bios on the hounds, which helps to match them with the right fosters and the right adopters. While I was in Tucson once many years ago, I stopped at a Petco on 22nd Street and met some greyhounds and SA Greys members unknowingly at the time that today I would be writing an article as the president of this great organization.

Jeanne Gacke is President of Southern Arizona Greyhound Adoption and can be reached at president@sagreys.org.