Catching The Greyhound
Recently, I ventured forth to the Bru’s house. He’d bought a bicycle off eBay and it had come deconstructed. Being that neither he nor his boyfriend is mechanically minded he decided not to ask me to ally its greasy, alloy-framed dots because I am not mechanically minded either. So, he asked Shantoozy – she of the uncanny mathomechalogical cognisance.
These two North Melbournian loonatics live with four dogs, and have a fifth whom they are (if they can both agree that it must be done, which I doubt) offering up for a new home. This puppy is the daughter of two of their yippety-yappety brood. Some fellow supposedly bought her from them (via the internet, I think) but then wanted to pay them with part of a money order they would cash, having them pass on the rest (3,000 Euros!!!) to some mysterious third party. Fortunately, they recognised this as some kind of dodgy behaviour practised by drug-dealers, apparently, and, sensible fellows as they can occasionally be, didn’t want any part of it, least of all the part where they give their lovable puppy away to some degenerate fuckhead who’ll dump it along the freeway or take it swimming wid da fishes. Anyway, this puppy is one hell of an adorable furry bundle of mischief, and meeting her has finally swung Shantoozy over to my corner in now wanting to plonk an hound down in our hobbit-hole wif us and the two felines. (No Hefner bred ‘Bunnies’ here, unfortunately.)
Anyway, Hissy Kitty told us about G.A.P. (Greyhound Adoption Program) (Victoria) where you foster an unfortunate ex-racing/ ex-breeding greyhound until it becomes familiar enough with the human home environment, which takes about one to two months; then it can be adopted out to a permanent human family. If, however, you fall in love with it, you have the option of keeping it permanently yourself. We are just going to see how it goes and what shall most likely wind up happening is that we keep one while continuing to foster, getting our permanent pet hound a new playmate every one to two months, and that way we can keep helping this very worthy cause.
Pretty much anyone can foster a greyhound, so long as you live in Victoria; if you live elsewhere, I imagine that there is an equivalent program in your state or territory, and no doubt not just in Australia.
It should be nice to have a flesh and blood ‘Santa’s Little Helper’ about the abode (the two dimensional ones are tricky to feed and you get a really bad paper-cut type of wound if you pat them). I grew up with dogs and other pets and my folks eventually moved to a small acreage where Mum runs an hobby farm, mainly for the eggs and because she is a loony. Well, what can I say, some people like having animals around and some people don’t (and some people like Animal from ‘The Muppets’ and I do, too, but that is an utterly irrelevant point).
Groucho Marx, himself a dog-owner, said, ‘Outside of a book, a dog is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.’ I’ll still have plenty of time to write and to read because the greyhound will be snoozin’ most of the time. Greyhounds are fast (indeed, the fastest land mammal on Earth!) but they are also lazy. They have an high metabolism, however, and so they don’t need to be very active. Something like half an hour’s walk-time per day is all they require, and they can sleep for up to 20 hours each day! Just like a uni. student, in that respect.
I think we should get along splendidly. The cats and the dog, too, for greyhounds are very good around other pets. (No, no ‘Penthouse’ pets around here either, unfortunately, but if you know any who also need a foster home I’ll be glad to take one or two of ‘em in, especially because I hear they breed like ‘Bunnies’.)
These two North Melbournian loonatics live with four dogs, and have a fifth whom they are (if they can both agree that it must be done, which I doubt) offering up for a new home. This puppy is the daughter of two of their yippety-yappety brood. Some fellow supposedly bought her from them (via the internet, I think) but then wanted to pay them with part of a money order they would cash, having them pass on the rest (3,000 Euros!!!) to some mysterious third party. Fortunately, they recognised this as some kind of dodgy behaviour practised by drug-dealers, apparently, and, sensible fellows as they can occasionally be, didn’t want any part of it, least of all the part where they give their lovable puppy away to some degenerate fuckhead who’ll dump it along the freeway or take it swimming wid da fishes. Anyway, this puppy is one hell of an adorable furry bundle of mischief, and meeting her has finally swung Shantoozy over to my corner in now wanting to plonk an hound down in our hobbit-hole wif us and the two felines. (No Hefner bred ‘Bunnies’ here, unfortunately.)
Anyway, Hissy Kitty told us about G.A.P. (Greyhound Adoption Program) (Victoria) where you foster an unfortunate ex-racing/ ex-breeding greyhound until it becomes familiar enough with the human home environment, which takes about one to two months; then it can be adopted out to a permanent human family. If, however, you fall in love with it, you have the option of keeping it permanently yourself. We are just going to see how it goes and what shall most likely wind up happening is that we keep one while continuing to foster, getting our permanent pet hound a new playmate every one to two months, and that way we can keep helping this very worthy cause.
Pretty much anyone can foster a greyhound, so long as you live in Victoria; if you live elsewhere, I imagine that there is an equivalent program in your state or territory, and no doubt not just in Australia.
It should be nice to have a flesh and blood ‘Santa’s Little Helper’ about the abode (the two dimensional ones are tricky to feed and you get a really bad paper-cut type of wound if you pat them). I grew up with dogs and other pets and my folks eventually moved to a small acreage where Mum runs an hobby farm, mainly for the eggs and because she is a loony. Well, what can I say, some people like having animals around and some people don’t (and some people like Animal from ‘The Muppets’ and I do, too, but that is an utterly irrelevant point).
Groucho Marx, himself a dog-owner, said, ‘Outside of a book, a dog is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.’ I’ll still have plenty of time to write and to read because the greyhound will be snoozin’ most of the time. Greyhounds are fast (indeed, the fastest land mammal on Earth!) but they are also lazy. They have an high metabolism, however, and so they don’t need to be very active. Something like half an hour’s walk-time per day is all they require, and they can sleep for up to 20 hours each day! Just like a uni. student, in that respect.
I think we should get along splendidly. The cats and the dog, too, for greyhounds are very good around other pets. (No, no ‘Penthouse’ pets around here either, unfortunately, but if you know any who also need a foster home I’ll be glad to take one or two of ‘em in, especially because I hear they breed like ‘Bunnies’.)
posted by S. Gregory | 12:04 am
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