| Road to Retirement |
 After a greyhound is finished racing, it is placed on a list along with other hounds that are waiting to enter an adoption program. There are usually anywhere between 80 and 100 hounds on this list at any given time. CGA's Procurement Team arranges to meet with kennels when they have new dogs available to come into CGA. Procurement Team VisitA number of things happen when the Procurement Team meets these dogs. The kennel staff let them know of any injuries or issues, personality traits, etc. The dogs' tattoos are checked, and a picture is taken of each dog, to use when they are put up on the website as "Available Dogs".Because CGA dogs are fostered with families, it is critical that we find out how each dog will do with cats before they are assigned a foster home. The Art of Cat Testing When we "cat test" a dog, the dog is brought out, by him/herself, wearing a muzzle and a lead. The cat is in a harness and on a lead, as well. The Procurement team watches the interactions between the dog and cat, doing their best to determine whether a greyhound will be safe with cats. CGA's official Cat Testing Cat, Broadway, with 6 years of experience, and well over 2,000 dogs met, helps make that job a lot easier. He allows the dogs to sniff him and get an idea of what he is, (for many he is the first cat they've seen close-up). Some dogs are so cat-safe that they will lose interest at that point. Others are interested in playing with him, and for these dogs, Broadway will "correct" their advances, and in many of these cases, the greyhound will decide that he/she does not want to play anymore, and will lose interest. These dogs have been "trained" by Broadway to respect him, and are considered cat safe. There are greyhounds, however, that are simply never going to be safe with cats, and behave aggressively as soon as they see Broadway, and become more aggressive with attempts to correct them. Even in these cases, with the dog muzzled and being held by the lead, and a number of people there to intervene, neither the cat or the greyhound are in any danger. We are happy to say that through all his meetings with greyhounds, Broadway has not been harmed in any way. Thanks to Broadway's nature and the ability of the Procurement Team to read behaviors, we are able to accurately cat test more than 95% of the time. For those dogs who behave differently when they get into foster homes, the fosters have been trained to spot the dogs who end up not being safe with cats before anything bad happens, and the dog is moved to a foster with no cats, and will be adopted to a home with no cats.  Broadway is the Buckley family cat, his "mom", Kathie, chauffers him and is the person on the other end of his lead. He has developed quite a reputation among the greyhound kennels, and continues to refine his skills. He truly seems to enjoy his work and understand what his 'job' is. When he gets home he gets an extra serving of his favorite canned food, and that's enough for him. He has a wonderful relationship with "his" dogs at home, and spends his days just like any housecat.Thanks to Broadway and his willingness to travel and do his "job", we help fulfill our mission of finding the right homes for CGA's retired racing greyhounds. The current members of the Procurement Team are:
Entering the Adoption ProgramOnce there is an available spot in our foster program, the hound is picked up from the kennel and transported to a local veterinary hospital, where the dog is spayed/neutered and has its teeth cleaned. After the surgery, it is then transported to its new foster home to start retired life.Click here to learn more about our fostering program. |