Hounds Home For The Holiday

Hey, Monday is the official start of drinking in the yard while the burgers burn on the grill, and you pass out but don't have to worry about freezing to death season...um...we mean summer, so let's revive an Ironicus Maximus tradition that we mostly don't remember because we're...ah...passed out in the yard? No wait, that's not it. Say, somebody want to get those burgers? Smells like they're burning.

Where were we? Oh yeah, Hounds Home For The Holiday, but first, let's see what the overlords are doing to protect their investment because, you know, the units...erm...the greyhounds are their livelihood, so there's no way their not going to give them the highest level of care and attention.

Freeway Petey got his name on his way from Sarasota to Tallahassee. He was in a kennel in the back of a truck, with another greyhound. They fought, and it was loud enough that the driver pulled over. He tried to break it up. It was 4 a.m. on May 9, on Interstate 75. One of the greyhounds escaped, and the name Freeway Petey has stuck ever since.

Now, in this overlord's defense, because we all know how calm and laid back greyhounds are, he figured cramming two dogs into a space made for one and driving them all over the countryside day and night wouldn't be a problem. Certainly, as a highly trained, experienced handler and trainer he couldn't have predicted the situation would turn out the way it did.

No one knows exactly what happened in those 14 hours Petey was loose.

Well, one thing we do know for sure, every overlord in a 100 mile radius was going up and down that highway looking for Petey, we mean, how many times have people like Elaine told us "we love our dogs" right? Wait, what's that you say? The overlord who lost Petey just went on home and some guy just happened to find him 14 hours later?

Petey was in poor shape. Over the phone, the man told Kendra Stauffer, foster coordinator for the Gainesville chapter of Gold Coast Greyhound Adoptions that Petey had some deep cuts. When Stauffer got to Petey, it was worse than she thought — Petey needed emergency medical attention. "We didn't think he was gonna make it through the first 12 hours," she said. "He was very dehydrated. The first day was pretty touchy." She whisked him to the University of Florida veterinary hospital and provided her own credit card. The charge: $1,500. By Friday night, the bill was $3,400. They had to pull Petey out of the vet hospital and watch him as he recovered. There was no more money. It looked bleak.

 See? Now that's the kind of commitment to greyhound welfare we're talking about. Who says the overlords just view the dogs as interchangeable commodities, only possessing value as long as they can make a buck? Oh wait, Kendra Stauffer isn't an overlord. She's one of the people who come along and clean up after the overlords. OK, our bad. Still, we bet Petey's owner caught the first thing smoking to get down there and take over Petey's care once he found out.

She contacted Petey's owner through a tattoo all racing greyhounds get. The owner said he would relinquish care.

Oh. Umm...well...er...OK look, give the guy a break here will you? We mean, just take a look at the dog:

It's pretty obvious he's never going to race again, so what do you expect the overlords to do? It's just business, nothing personal there Petey. Maybe you can find a sucker to pick up your tab.

Over the weekend, something happened, though. Stauffer put photos of Petey on Facebook and started updating regularly. Media outlets picked up the story, and the donations kicked in. Stauffer said contributions have come from as far away as the UK. Some message and say they're on a fixed income, and give $5.

Dang. People who don't even know the dog and will probably never see him in real life care more about him than the ones who tell us he is their life. Who could have predicted, huh Rowdy?

Rowdy is very outgoing and independent. He loves to be with people and/or other dogs. He is cat safe and gets along with his foster’s two Huskies. He loves to be petted. He loves to go for walks, play ball and play with his stuffies. He loves kids. He cannot do stairs but his foster is working with him on this issue. Rowdy would do wonderful in any type of family home environment. He is used to being with other dogs in the home so would probably do best in a home with another dog. He is housebroken and does not require crating. For more information about this dog, and other rescued racing greyhounds looking for homes, go here. If you don't know about the plight of racing greyhounds go here.