Greyhound racing: Helping greyhounds adapt to life after racing

Fatima Avdic of Nightrave Greyhounds and "Buddy". Photo credit: Photograph Hawke's Bay Today.

Sponsored content
There's plenty of people willing to testify that greyhounds make great pets. Last year alone, more than 500 greyhounds were rehomed through the Greyhound Racing New Zealand Great Mates Rehoming Programme, an industry-funded and operated retirement programme.

Nightrave Greyhounds is one of several adoption agencies which works in collaboration with the Great Mates Rehoming Programme, and co-founder Fatima Avdic knows better than anyone how well greyhounds adapt from racing life to pet life.

"I've been involved in rehoming for the past 15 years, and Rachel Rae and I started Nightrave back in 2012," remembers Avdic.

"We were both working fulltime jobs at the time, and we initially thought we'd rehome around three dogs a year, but because we had so much experience, we found that a lot of trainers wanted to give us their dogs to rehome."

And so, Nightrave quickly expanded. Avdic and Rae purchased three acres in Feilding, and more recently, have purchased a second property in the Hawke's Bay.

For the rehomers, every day is different. But one thing remains the same – their love for all of the greyhounds who pass through their kennels.

"I love that the greyhound is a working dog," enthuses Avdic. "When you breed a dog for work, then in my opinion, you get an amazing dog because dogs love doing jobs.

"Even if a greyhound doesn't race, it is still beautifully bred for the work, it was still brought up with its siblings, it still had the racing training. And I personally believe that that its upbringing and its career, whether it's short or long, is what makes them great pets.

"It's not about what we do here with them. We are not magicians; no one can take an adult dog and turn it into this amazing pet. Yes, if a dog is terribly timid or if it has resource guarding issues, we can work on those things.

"But if you're thinking of adopting a retired racer, its temperament and suitability to be a pet is because of the industry that's given it a job, and the breeding and life for that job."

Avdic adds that their suitability as pets is enhanced by their general physical conditions.

"They are actually a very healthy breed. For example, they don't have hip issues. Hip dysplasia is a big problem among purebred dogs, because they breed for looks, not conformation.

"But because they're working dogs, hip dysplasia, if it ever existed in greyhounds, has effectively been bred out," she explains.

Avdic stopped counting how many greyhounds she'd rehomed when the number reached 1500, and has herself fostered and adopted countless retired athletes over the years.

"I foolishly took my first greyhound to the track when he was around nine years old," she remembers. "And he just would have done anything to get out on the track to race one more time.

"If I needed confirmation that greyhounds love what they do, I certainly had it that day!"

Nightrave Greyhounds receives many of its applications via word of mouth, and a comprehensive process is followed to ensure a dog is matched to the right adopters.

"The prospective adopters fill out a questionnaire, and we then visit the home to meet the family and any other animals living there.

"We generally create a shortlist of dogs for the adopters, where we send them photos of a few dogs along with descriptions, we ask which ones they'd like to meet and we arrange a meet and greet with those dogs.

"People often ask what happens to the dogs that aren't chosen, and we always explain that nobody's on the clock, nobody's being pushed anywhere.

"We have industry funding for these dogs, so we are under no time pressure – these beautiful greyhounds have all the time in the world to be adopted."