Greyhound Friends Inc.
167 Saddle Hill Road
Hopkinton, MA 01748
greyhndfds@aol.com
508-435-5969
Improving the lives of greyhounds, lurchers & mixed hounds one dog at a time
HomeThe Original Kennel
Greyhound Friends Inc began leasing the original kennel May 1,1987 from the Fitzpatrick family who lived across the street and who's family had owned the property since 1914.
Our history spans over 32 years with many important milestones and achievements both domestically and internationally. We have a long journey ahead and our strength will come from our experiences. We have collected this archive as a resource and a record of our work.
Archive of photos, videos, & articles
The New Kennel
25th & 30th Anniversaries
Other Events
Fashion Show NYC
High Tea Boston Ritz Carlton
Rallies & Calls to Action
Open House
International Conference
Meet & Greets
Courage of Conscience Award - The Peace Abbey
Dewey Beach
International Involvement
Spain - Scooby Shelter - Medina Del Campo
Spain - SOS Galgos - Barcelona
Spain - Images from the South Of Spain - Juan Jesus
Argentina
Ireland
Guam
The New kennel opened it's doors on Labor Day 2003. The contractors were Kevin Simard & Sal Leanza and the architect was Randy Johnson of Natick, Ma. Construction was made possible by a bequest from Helen Rosenberger who loved dogs. We were very surprised but thankful for her support as we never knew her personally. She may have known about us through newspaper stories or perhaps a television piece about the organization and our work.We read about her gift in a story in the Boston Herald after her death.
Greyhound Friends has had two milestone anniversaries events. The 25th was held at the Charles River Golf Course in Brookline. Mayor Menino was a featured speaker and the auctioneer for the evening. Robert Mahoney was the master of Ceremonies with over 100 people in attendance.
The 30th anniversary was held under a large tent at Greyhound Friends' main campus in Hopkinton, MA 2013 with several keynote speakers and an amazing carrot cake.
open house history and highlights
Tea.............................
Rally....................................
Greyhound Friends Inc. as part of it's ongoing effort to support and help promote the welfare of greyhound around the world holds an annual conference historically on the shelter's campus in Hopkinton, MA. This event draws the movers and shakers who are on the front lines of dealing with issues of welfare and public oppinion from around the world. The conference schules a keynote speker followed by reports from international and domestic groups. The event is concluded with a large outdoor dinner where guests and speakers can socialize and continue dialogue about the issues of the day internationally.
Greyhound Friends Inc. of Hopkinton, Massachusetts has dedicated themselves to educating the general public about the gentleness of greyhounds illustrating through meet and greet events how wonderful a pet this breed makes. The public exposure to the dogs has helped to disspell many myths about the breed ofter thought to be unsutable or aggressive due to their image from the dog racing tracks. School children and other organizations have benifitted greatly from these events over the years and the program has played a major role in promoting the breed.
The Sherborn Peace Abbey a center for peace and human rights has honored several leading people connected to the rehoming and advancement of greyhounds. Greyhound Friends Director Louise Coleman recieved the "Courage and Conscience" Award in XXXX. Anna Clements of SOSGalgos located in Bsrecelona, Spain also recieved the honor.
Dewey Beach is an anuual meeting of greyhound owners and friends who gather for a long weekend in early Fall. There histoirally have been thousands of visitor who can bring their dogs into resturuants, hotels and along the beach for this event. There are also many vendors and opportunities to meet organizations helping greyhounds. The event has recently be revived after several years of low attendance. Greyhound Friends would host a booth at this event.
SOS galgos based in Barcdelona Spain has work diligently to bring public wareness to the issues of racing greyhounds and galgos used for blood sport hunting. Greyhound Friends has supported their efforts over the last decade but it has been the grassroots efforts and hard work of groups like SOSGalgos that have turned public opinion. The organization has sponsored large marches with dogs through the streets of the city to hosting very large fashion shows in top night clubs. These events have illustrated the true nature of the breed and have rally great support.
Spain has made great strides forward in the treatment and public understanding of Galgos which are a spanish version of a greyhound. In the north greyhound racing has been band and public press has reduced the number of dogs being destroyed often in horrific manors like hanging from trees or dumped down abandonded wells. The problem in the south of Spain where coursing is a huge sport has been slow to change. The massive numbers of dogs breed has also created a huge number of waste animals. Several groups have created large sanctuaries but they have their work cut out for them.
Argentina is a country where the poorer people in the population are the main owners of greyhounds. These dogs are used for hunting, coursing and straight racing for low wage sport. The dogs once done with their bred purpose usefulness are often abandoned or left to fend for themselves as resources are so linited in the family structure. Law and public opinion are putting some pressure on the industry but with dogs being pushed in from the United States and Ireland the problem is slow to change. The massive size of the country and the unwillingness of local athourities to take action make improving the situation a daunting prospect. Greyhound Friends has produced the above video to illustrate the issues.
Ireland has a long history with greyhound breeding and racing. The country also export racing dogs to other area around the world as breeding stock and for coursing and racing. The industry in Ireland is subsidized by the government with tax revenue funds. Greyhounbd Friends has focused attention on Ireland by both taking retired and shelter dogs for adoption in the United States to draw attention to the issues facing the thousands of dogs bred wach year. Much of the problems in Irelnad stem from the huge number of excess dogs which are traditionally destroyed. This is slowly changing with public awarness and a faultering industry due to hard economic times.
When the Guam Greyhound Track closed there were hundreds of greyhounds stranded at the track. Management of the track opted to have a give-away of dogs to anyone who would want them. This seemed to them to be a good Idea but the reality was that many dog faced neglect or worse. Greyhound Friends Inc sent journalist John Mottern to the island territory of the United States to review the issue. After several media stories in the newspaper, radio and regional evening news the track stopped the practice and worked with rescue groups both locally and back in the 50 continental United States to place dogs. "The Guam Dogs" became a successful operation to place dogs with families off island and the iconic Guan Greyhound Track collar becme a prized collectable.
Open House........
Scooby is a large animal shelter located in Medina Del Campo which is north of Madrid, Spain. This group under the leadership of Fermin XXXXXXXXX has worked to rescue thousands of dogs of all types but has also made great efforts to save and place greyhounds and galgos that would have otherwise met a variety of fates. The great need for this type of rescue was immediately apperant early on as the humble facility they were using become overwhelmed with animals. With the help of the international community of rescue organizatrions Scooby has grown into a facility which can process dogs efficianlty and can provide medical care and housing for dogs until they can be placed. Many of the dogs are placed internationally as the local population is still slow to understanding the value and level of care required of these animals as household pets.
Volunteer
