Gone to the dogs: Greyhounds wearing party hats enjoy stroll around Napier

A group of 17 greyhounds - some wearing party hats - and their owners wrapped up warmly to take part in the 10th anniversary of the Great Global Greyhound Walk on Sunday.

The sleek canines started at Clive Square for a Sunday stroll around Napier to raise awareness of the breed and to promote greyhound adoptions.

Organiser Maree Patton said greyhounds made great pets as they were intelligent, affectionate and a little lazy at times.

"They adapt to pet life with surprising ease, becoming a family favourite in no time," she said.

"Last year there was a total of 6387 hounds which attended the walks worldwide and each year the number of hounds attending increases."

Patton is also part of the Hawke's Bay branch for Greyhounds as Pets (GAP) New Zealand and is responsible for organising walks around Napier.

"We had a really good turnout of 17 greyhounds and one other dog, because sometimes their brothers and sisters want to join in on the walk.

"Some of the dogs were dressed up today because the theme was celebration.

"A lot of them had party hats on and others had little coats and pyjamas that they often wear in cooler weather.

"They have quite thin skin, not a lot of fur and they also have a low fat content in their body so they do feel the cold quicker than other dogs as well."

GAP is a charitable trust that helps find homes for greyhounds after their time in racing. Adopting out hundreds of hounds each year, GAP has placed almost 2000 dogs since its inception about 10 years ago.

"The walks are just to promote greyhounds and that they do make good pets once they've retired from racing. There's just so many adoption agencies that take on these dogs that have finished their working careers and a lot more are getting re-homed nowadays."

Other countries that support the Global Greyhound Walk are the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Spain, Italy, Canada, Philippines and Czech Republic.