Weeks ago we told you about one of the most unexpected effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the animal world: it closed down the last of the Florida dog racing tracks.
While this was good news—dog racing has long been denounced as inhumane, with many of the greyhounds sustaining injuries and death on the track—it also came with a daunting task: trying to find new homes for the hundreds of racing dogs.
No one was sure at the time how long it would take to find all these greyhounds homes… but now there’s some incredible news: all 570 dogs freed from Daytona Beach Racing have now been adopted.
“During our planning, we had a worst-case scenario that it would take us six to seven months to adopt the greyhounds out,” facility president Fred Guzman told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. “Thankfully, it didn’t turn out that way.”
Daytona was one of the Florida race tracks that was set to be closed down by state order by the end of the year. But many closed ahead of schedule after they were shuttered by the coronavirus.
This left the tracks abruptly having to rehome all their greyhounds, but Daytona was able to work with a network of national groups, including Greyhound Pets of America and the National Greyhound Association.
“The thought was they had the connections nationwide to coordinate our efforts to adopt the greyhounds out,” Guzman said. “The greyhounds were sent to California, Arizona, Massachusetts and other places across the country.”
They also worked with their local group Box to the Wire Greyhound Adoption Inc.
“It was done very quickly and I am quite proud of the way Greyhound Nation as whole came together to make sure all of the Daytona greyhounds got moved to other groups and into their adoptive homes,” she said.
These dogs have already been through so much, and it’s a relief to know they won’t have to wait long for good homes. We can only hope all the greyhounds from every racing track is so lucky.
“It’s a relief for me to know that all of our greyhounds are sitting comfortably in someone’s couch,” Guzman told the News-Journal. “We always believed we took good care of them and are happy to know they will have a good life in retirement.”
We’re so happy to hear these greyhounds are safe in good homes, share this inspiring news!
