By BRIDGET SCOTT
A CRANBOURNE couple, who runs one of only two greyhound rescue groups in Victoria, rehomed their 50th dog this month and it’s full speed ahead from here.
Sherree Reid and partner Brett started Greyhound Rescue Victoria after they adopted their first greyhound Digger from the RSPCA.
“After that I began to do some research and stumbled across some statistics,” Sherree said.
“The statistics of race dogs compared to those which were rehomed were bad.”
“I just figured those death rates weren’t needed.”
The Cranbourne couple now runs a registered charity and usually have up to 10 dogs in their program at one time. Brett and Sherree both agreed it’s become a passion which has also been passed on to their children.
“The kids get pocket money as kids do, but most of the time they just put it straight back into the greyhounds,” Sherree said.
The volunteer, who also works at the Keysborough animal shelter, said they were like “dogs in a cats body.”
“They’re a very relaxed and chilled out dog, very low maintenance,” she said.
The couple, who does not support greyhound racing, recently took in 10 puppies which were seven weeks old.
“They were a big handful, but they all went to foster homes and then were adopted out,” Sherree said.
She added that a majority of the greyhounds which come through their program were deemed unfit to race or have been retired.
She said trainers often came to them and they welcomed anyone who was looking to adopt their dog out.
“We don’t support racing, but we want to be approachable to anyone who may like to surrender their dog,” she said.
“We are here for the welfare of the dogs.”
The greyhound carer said any dogs which came to them had to have a certificate of retirement to avoid the dogs being put back into the racing system.
“Our policies are strict,” she said.
She said they tried to work through the dogs as quickly as possible in order to rehome them fast.
They operate with a $250 adoption fee however the greyhounds are fully vaccinated and de-sexed before they go into a new home. The couple also conducts home checks and only rehome the dogs to families through Victoria.
They are desperately seeking sponsors to help with the costs associated with the dog.
Sherree said they ran online auctions, garage sales, markets, sausages sizzles and more to aid funds but would happily do this for the rest of their lives.
“I’d happily give up every Sunday for the rest of our lives,” she said.
Donations are welcome from anyone and more information can be found at their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Greyhound-rescue-victoria/642879675743681?hc_location=timeline.
