AGC ADOPTION GRANTS PASS $1.1 MILLION MARK

When the American Greyhound Council (AGC) Board of Directors approved a budget of $70,000 for 2013-14 adoption grants at its annual meeting in February, board members didn’t immediately realize that they had reached a milestone. With the new allocation, the total amount of grants funded by AGC for adoption since 1997 passed the $1.1 million mark.

The grants are used for food, medicines, bedding, collars, leashes, transport or other costs associated with preparing and placing greyhounds in adoptive homes. Grants also are available for capital improvement projects by special request. Prior to 1997, the AGC relied on outside organizations to screen and select grant recipients. Since the direct grant program began in 1997, the AGC has made more than 700 grants directly to adoption groups from coast to coast. 

“In fiscal year 2012 alone, more than fifty different groups received AGC grants,” said AGC spokesman Gary Guccione. “We’re proud to help these hard-working organizations, and we’re very grateful for the terrific work they do to ensure that every eligible greyhound finds a loving adoptive home.”

An additional $7,500 was earmarked for Greyhound Pets of America, the largest national greyhound adoption organization, which operates a toll-free adoption hotline and has 39 affiliated chapters across the nation.

As a result of the extraordinary work of these and other adoption organizations, Guccione said, more than 95 percent of all registered greyhounds are placed in adoptive homes or returned to the farm as pets or breeders when they retire.