We are delighted to have been chosen to receive 25% of the money raised in the iheartwhippets Spring Auction The auction is in full swing and ends at 8pm on 7th May. There are many wonderful items up for grabs so please click on the link and have a look and get bidding! All the money raised will go to needy hounds.

We are very grateful for this wonderful fundraiser and we’ll let you know how much is raised once the auction has finished.

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Fionn’s story inspired a great show of solidarity as over 1500 people gathered together on 26th January to walk through Cork with their dogs. The atmosphere was very positive and shows a determination amongst people in Ireland to push for a change in laws regarding animal welfare. Organised by a supporter of Cork Dog Action Welfare Group, a staggering 18500 Euros was raised for the charity to help Fionn and many others in need. Please watch this short video of the inspiring walk.

I was lucky enough to stay with Fionn and his fosterer’s and was amazed at what a friendly and loving dog he is towards everyone he meets, despite the horrors of his past. I am continually inspired by this kind of spirit that i see in so many of the rescued dogs i meet, we can learn a lot from these dogs and yet they ask for so little in return.

Fionn’s case is not a one off. Extreme cruelty is commonplace in Ireland and there is a mountain to climb to change attitudes towards animals there. The rescue charities are constantly overwhelmed by the numbers of dogs and other animals needing help , many of them with horrific injuries that incur huge vets bills and there are not enough rescue spaces or funds to help them all.

95% of the dogs we take in come from Cork DAWG and we are sometimes asked why we take in dogs from Ireland when there are dogs in this country also needing help. The simple fact is if we don’t take them they will die. Finding good homes for greyhounds and lurchers in Ireland is very hard as they are not regarded by the majority of people to be suitable as pets and it is a worry that they will fall into the wrong hands. As one of the most over bred and abused types of dogs, there are always far more dogs in need than there are good homes available to them. ( For more information on the breeding of greyhounds in Ireland please see Irish Greyhound Spotlight ).

It was quite emotional for me to visit the Cork DAWG shelter where so many of our dogs come from (including two of my own). For these dogs the shelter is the first place of safety for them where they are fed and loved and their stepping stone to a better life.

The wonderful people i met and stayed with on my short trip devote their lives to saving dogs. This is not an easy path in life and the strain and emotion i could see in their faces and hearts as they told me countless stories of dogs they have helped and tried to help was both inspiring and heartbreaking.

The enforcement by the EU of the rabies legislation requiring every dog exported from Ireland to have the rabies vaccination 21 days before they travel, along with a pet passport, health check, microchip and the usual vaccinations is adding a huge amount of pressure and expense on the already overstretched Irish charities. Many more dogs will die as a result of this legislation as funds and rescue spaces are taken up by dogs waiting to travel.

As a charity we are committed to continue to help Cork DAWG as much as we can.

How can you help?

There are many ways in which you can help – every action helps no matter how small.

- Adopt a dog – you won’t regret it! Please take a look at the dogs we currently have for rehoming.

- Foster a dog – this is a very rewarding experience and a huge help to us as we are limited in the numbers of dogs we can have at the kennels. Please contact us if you would like to talk to us about fostering.

- Make a donation to The Greyhound Sanctuary or Cork Dog Action Welfare Group

- Follow us on facebook and please share our posts! This is a great help to us in finding homes for the dogs in our care and the more dogs we can rehome the more we can bring over from Ireland.

- Organise a fundraising event – we will give you all the support you need and help to publicise the event.

- Volunteer – we have a busy year of events ahead and extra pairs of hands are always welcome!

- Come along to our biggest event of the year – 1000 Sighthounds , this will be the third year of the event and we will be raising funds and awareness for these beautiful hounds and the charities that help them.

- Send an e-mail to Simon Coveney , Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Marine and Food -[email protected] asking him for  better welfare and protection for animals in Ireland.

- Talk to people! Many people don’t realise the scale of the problem of unwanted and abused greyhounds and lurchers in the UK and Ireland OR what wonderful pets they make!

Thank you for reading and for your continued support.

“Have a bias toward action – lets see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away”. Indira Gandhi

The post Positive Steps Towards a Better Future for Ireland’s Animals. appeared first on thegreyhoundsanctuary.org.

We are delighted that our on line auction raised the fantastic total of £1219.76! We are so grateful to all the kind people who donated items and the wonderfully generous bids we received. Pictured above is Ms Tara who had the winning bid for this lovely warm coat kindly donated by Milgi Coats. Ms Tara is a rescued lurcher from Mallow Animal Rescue who is recovering from a horrendous case of mange and really feels the cold so it could not have gone to a more worthy winner. Doesn’t she look lovely in her new attire!

The post A Grand Total! appeared first on thegreyhoundsanctuary.org.

Cork Dawg need your votes now to win 10,000 Euros! They are in a competition that ends this Friday so please take a moment to click on this link and vote – it could make all the difference.

We work closely with Cork Dawg and try to help as much as we can – mainly by taking in greyhounds and lurchers that they have rescued and rehoming them here in the UK. They are a wonderful charity who deal with a lot of cases of extreme cruelty and neglect and so their vets bills are huge. If they win this competition they could help more dogs like Lloyd(pictured) – who was found on the brink of death, starving and with a shattered shoulder. Despite having to have his leg amputated Lloyd has showed great resilience and is a great example of the loving and forgiving nature that is typical of lurchers and sighthounds in general. He is now a very happy chap living in his forever home. This is all thanks to Cork Dawg so please vote for them!

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The Greyhound Rescue Association Ireland (GRAI) has been informed that Spanish buyers were seen buying greyhounds two weeks ago at the Thurles Sales in Ireland. They bought 20 Greyhounds to take back to Spain for racing. The greyhounds are now kennelled somewhere in Co. Tipperary and when their passports are in order they will be transported to Southern Spain, either Andalucía or to Extremadura.

Extremadura has a very bad history of abusing Galgos (Spanish Greyhounds). It is big hunting country. An oval track has been built but is not yet licensed so no official betting is allowed. However, it is likely that racing will start as soon as the dogs are in place.

PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE this petition  to raise awareness and as much publicity as possible to highlight the plight of these greyhounds.

Once in Spain they will have little possibility of finding homes when their short racing life is over and they will be in a country with poor animal welfare standards and a track record of abusing Galgos. The rescue centres in Spain are already overwhelmed with trying to help the many thousands of abused and abandoned galgos so there is little if any hope for these poor greyhounds.

Please be the voice for these greyhounds, thank you for your support.

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It has come to our attention that our shop (which is still under construction) has a floor in the system which means you can’t checkout when trying to buy our Gorgeous 2014 Calendars. Just £5.00 plus P+P

So for now we are using this simple Pay Pal button to enable everyone to purchase one until we resolve the issue properly. Apologies for any inconvenience to those who have been trying to buy. Please note, P+P is included in price.

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Lots of different breeds of sighthound attended, and it was lovely to see so many, despite only 285 being registered for the walk. The weather was kind to us for the first couple of hours while the sponsored walk was taking place, but unfortunately the rain returned in earnest, which had lots of people and dogs huddled together under the stall gazebos waiting for it to pass.

The rain stopped in time for the fun dog show, in which sighthounds and lots of other dog breeds won rosettes in the classes, and it was great to see so many people and dogs having a great day out.

Some great official photos were taken by Sam Baker which are now on flickr www.flickr.com/photos/101830145@N03/ Please contact us if you would like to purchase any prints.

The post 1000 Sighthounds Charity Walk and Fun Dog Show September 2013 appeared first on thegreyhoundsanctuary.org.

Big Thank You to Nick and all the team at Pets at Home Exmouth for doing a big week long fundraising event in their store. £262.85p was raised for The Greyhound Sanctuary back in July and today they presented the cheque to Claire and George, Trustees, along with their greyhound, Ellie, and Lurcher, Tilly, who were both rescues from The Sanctuary. This fundraising was all part of Pets at Homes ‘Supporting Pet Adoption’ Scheme which helps raise finds for many worthwhile charities across the UK.

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