GREY2K: MISSING IN ACTION ON GREYHOUND ADOPTION

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In a recent blog post, Carey Theil touted the fact that he recently adopted a retired racing greyhound. You’d think from his comments that Carey and Grey2K are the world’s biggest greyhound adoption boosters. Nothing could be further from the truth.

While greyhound breeders and tracks continue to invest tens of thousands of dollars each year in greyhound adoption efforts, Grey2K remains largely missing in action when it comes to securing homes for retired racers.

Consider these facts, taken directly from Grey2K’s own tax records, which are public information, and Carey Theil’s blog, “Saving Greys.”

  • From 2009 to 2014, Grey2K USA and its sister entity, the Grey2K Education Fund, raised a total of slightly over $2.03 million in donations.
  • During that five-year period, the two organizations donated a whopping $34,000 to greyhound adoption–approximately 1.4 percent of the total raised.

The American Greyhound Council (AGC) was founded in 1987 to fund and oversee greyhound health, welfare and adoption programs. Since that time, the organization has invested more than $2.25 million in direct grants and donated in-kind services to support the nationwide adoption effort. That averages out to about $80,000 per year. And that sum doesn’t include the thousands of dollars that tracks spend annually on their own in-house adoption programs, or the thousands of dollars donated each year by grateful breeders to their nonprofit adoption partners.

In 2014, greyhound adoption programs accounted for 39 percent of the AGC’s annual budget. That percentage has remained fairly consistent over the years, even as AGC revenues have decreased due to declining numbers of tracks and breeders. In hard dollars, the amount allocated to greyhound adoption has remained unchanged for nearly a decade, with cuts made to other areas not directly related to greyhound welfare. Funding greyhound adoption efforts remains the organization’s highest priority and its largest budget item.

So when it comes to greyhound adoption, don’t be deceived. While Carey Theil brags about adopting one retired racer, we work every day with our friends in the adoption world to make a difference for thousands of greyhounds. While Grey2K talks the talk, it’s the real greyhound advocates in greyhound racing and the adoption world who actually walk the walk.