LINDA JENSEN NAMED AGC’S 2010 ADOPTION PERSON OF YEAR

A Connecticut woman who has spent more than twenty years leading the effort to find adoptive homes for retired racing greyhounds has been honored by the American Greyhound Council (AGC) with the 2010 Greyhound Adoption Person of the Year Award.

Linda A. Jensen of Plainfield was nominated by Joan Belle Isle, president of the Massachusetts-based Greyhound Project, Inc., and Ann Bollens, president of Greyhound Pets of America-Emerald Coast.

The nominators cited Jensen’s “unrelenting persistence in organizing, facilitating and coordinating” the movement of retired greyhounds from tracks and farms to greyhound adoption groups.

AGC Communications Coordinator Gary Guccione called Linda Jensen “one of the unsung heroes of the greyhound adoption community.”

“Linda has always put the greyhounds first,” Guccione said. “She has worked tirelessly to improve communication between adoption groups and the greyhound racing community, building trust and confidence between all the players for the ultimate benefit of the dogs.”

Among Jensen’s many contributions, she led an effort to ensure that funds from the Massachusetts Greyhound Welfare Trust Fund would be used to support adoption programs, and also initiated Greyhound Adoption Expo events at the tracks to educate adoption volunteers about track and kennel operations.

In 2005 Jensen played a key role in the successful placement of hundreds of retired greyhounds when Plainfield Greyhound Park permanently ended live racing. Later, she coordinated the movement of hundreds more greyhounds into adoption programs after a state referendum shut down Massachusetts tracks.

Linda Jensen will be recognized formally at the AGC’s spring meeting in February 2011 in Las Vegas. Her award includes a $500 donation to her adoption group, ROAR (Racing Owners Assisting Racers, Inc.).

The Greyhound Adoption Person of the Year award began in 2007 as a way of honoring those who make extraordinary contributions to greyhound adoption.