February 25, 2015
Racing to rescue greyhounds Recipes
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Rescued Racers is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization that takes in, fosters, and adopts out greyhounds like these.
Rescued Racers is an organization dedicated to finding homes for dogs School
By Sara Hardin Rescued Racers is a 501c3, nonprofit, volunteer-run organization that takes in, fosters, and adopts out greyhounds. Many of the dogs have finished their racing careers or training time on farms, and some also come from dog pounds and animal shelters. Leann Zalasky, founder of Rescued Racers, said her inspiration for starting the organization came from her reading of a magazine article covering the issue of greyhound rescue after dogs are found with no place to go when their racing career came to a close. “I researched it, and talked to my vet, and decided to go ahead and go through with it,” said Zalasky. “I drove to Waterloo, Iowa and got Lady, my very first greyhound. I wanted to get more involved and wanted to be involved in the rescuing process. Back then, there were very, very few greyhound adoption groups. Thousands of greyhounds were killed each year. That has since changed, but back then the dogs were either an asset or a liability.” Rescued Racers has a foster home network of about 40 families, and on average has about 25 greyhounds in foster care at a time. All of the greyhounds that Rescued Racers takes in are adopted out, and since its founding in 1996, Rescued Racers has rescued over 1,500 greyhounds. The organization has a network of
connections within the greyhound racing world, including a group of people at Southland Park in West Memphis, as well as tracks and farms within Kansas and Missouri. Zalasky explained that Rescued Racers will bring in greyhounds of all ages, and will also jump in if greyhounds need to be taken in from other locations as well. “We take [greyhounds] from all ages. It’s rare, but sometimes we get greyhound puppies, or we get them anywhere from 12-18 months if they’re on the farm. It’s kind of like little league. You have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of little league players, but how many actually make it to the major league? It’s a very small percentage. So it’s kind of the same thing with the greyhounds – you have hundreds and hundreds out there on farms training, but how many of them actually make it? If they are successful with their career they’ll usually be done with their career around 4 or 5 years old. Like any athlete, it’s very hard on them physically so they can’t race for years and years and years. We also take in seniors. We go anywhere from a puppy to a 10, 11, or 12-year-old.” Those interested in adopting from Rescued Racers undergo a thorough adoption process in order to ensure that every greyhound is going to a loving and capable new home.
“How the process works is someone either sees our dogs at a meet-andgreet, on Facebook, or on our webpage,” explained Zalasky. “They fill out an application, which is on our website, and they are then assigned an adoption coordinator who then contacts the family. Then we have our foster list, and the coordinator and the family go over which dogs they’re interested in. We encourage people to see as many dogs as they want as many times as they want. We do not pick out a dog for anyone. We check See RACING TO RESCUE page 2
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