GREYTNEWS!GREYTNEWS! The Newsletter ofGreyhound Adoptions ofFlorida

November 2016

GAF's Open House a HUGE Success...AGAIN!

The weather was perfect, so many of our friendscame, old and new, we couldn't even begin to countthe dogs, and the tributes to dear departed friendswere so bittersweet. Visiting dogs raced in the fieldand the kennel dogs yipped and jumped and wiggledwith excitement to meet so many people. And weshowed once again, this is who we are and this iswhat we do. Could you feel the love? Oh, yes.

Page 2From Your Editor

Wait, wasn't it just February a few weeks back?Time relentlessly moves faster and faster and 2017 is ashort skip away. But first the Holidays are coming, andthis usually means amazing photo opportunities of dogdecorating, adorable encounters with new gifted stuffies,greyhounds and Santa, blanketed greyhounds frolickingin the snow...uh, hold off on that...right season/wrongregion, unless our up north friends – some of whom areEXCELLENT photographers (thinking about you,Maureen, Mark and Barry!) – send some of theirpictures so that we Floridians can admire from afar.And of course this means we're gearing up for the nextFlorida legislative session.

Opening day is 7 March. And fireworks areexpected as the State and the Seminole Tribe have gotto straighten out who gets to offer what kinds ofgambling. There's been an airtight judicial decision infavor of the Tribe's previously agreed exclusivity toblackjack in certain areas and to player banked poker.So Florida, if it wants to keep its lucrative percentage ofthe Tribe's profits, needs to settle on an agreement.Which means that once again we try to make everybodyhappy with an overall gambling bill. Herding cats is acake-walk in comparison.

Greyhound racing is part of this mix and with livepari-mutual revenues plummeting and poker room takecontinuing to soar, there will be track owners and animalwelfare advocates again finding ourselves on the sameside in support of Decoupling. For an easy explanationof what Decoupling entails, please see this link from theGAF website:http://ahome4greys.org/EndDogRacing.htm We areclose to 100% confident that this issue, our issue, will beaddressed and likely early on. The in-coming SenatePresident, Senator Joe Negron is sympathetic to ourcause and this gives us a tremendous advantage...agreyhound-favorable bill will likely have no problemcoming to the Senate floor. And in this last election wepicked up a good number of other state legislators in ourcorner.

Joyce

And I know that when the inevitable requests to youstart coming: we need emails/we need letters/most of allwe need phone calls to your House Representatives andState Senators...you will once again be there for the dogs.Thank you all.

Greyhound racing will end. Soon. And when itends in Florida it will die nationwide. It costs Floridamore to regulate this than what it receives in revenue, andultimately economics will bring about its demise. Andthat bottle of champagne I've had carefully stored for 3+years will finally be uncorked.

This issue has two lovely stories about recentadoptions...thanks go to Donna Belardi and CherylDornbush, and very special thanks to Ross Dornbushwho roamed the Open House taking both candids andindividual Human and their Hound photos. Thanks toCarol Bellavia for her recap of The Villages GreyhoundClub. And a very special thanks to Val DeLisle whostarted a crowd funding movement for Police K-9 safety.Greyhound people continue to be the best!

This picture has norelationship whatsoever tothe text of my letter, exceptthat I thought it wasDedication Personified.Russ in the kenneldrenched during HurricaneMatthew but soldiering on.

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Editor's Note: This could not have been a more perfectmatch, and the 3 Dornbush's came to the Memorial OpenHouse...the perfect picture of a perfect adoption. Speaking ofperfect, Ross' talent for photography contributed the front pagepictures as well as these. Just delighted to meet you all!

My husband and I decided to adopt a greyhound after thedeath of our very much loved big mutt, Lucy. I kind of heldoff on adopting immediately simply because Lucy had beensuch a big personality and presence in our house, I just wantedto be sure that the next dog we adopted would be her equal.

We met with Marilyn and Russ at Grey Haven, and theywere so wonderful about answering all of our questions,addressing our concerns and letting us meet the hounds. Two

Our First Four Weeks with Frannie! By Cheryl Dornbush, photos by Ross Dornbush

weeks after our initial meeting Marilyn let me know that she had a youngfemale we needed to look at and that was our first introduction to Frannie.She then made a home visit, passed the “small dog test” and became apermanent member of our family!

Week One: Frannie is quiet, afraid of the hardwood floors and spends alot of time pacing and just looking at everything. I think she is on sensoryoverload – being in a house is so new and strange to her. She does, howeverhave a wonderful appetite!

Week Two: Frannie decides to sleep on the bed instead of next to it, knowsexactly where the treat jar is and has started running laps in the back yard forfun! She whines when she needs to go out and her kennel has been taken downfor good. It seems like she is settling in.

Week Three: Every toy in the house now belongs to Frannie along with mysocks, Ross’ underwear and the remote controls. Anything she can pick up andcarry to her bed belongs to her! She has also discovered the joy of jumping intothe pond to play and greeting the neighborhood dogs with the oddest soundingbark and “roo” you could ever imagine. She has definitely figured out that she isthe Princess of her domain!

Week Four: Frannie enjoys long walks, meeting the neighbors , naps andfood. She also likes belly rubs, runs in the back yard and treats. Oh, and did Imention she really likes food? She has been the best decision we have made ina long time and she has brought us a great deal of joy in such a short time. Weconsider ourselves blessed to have her! (Eddie, the tiny brown & white one,however seems decidedly unimpressed - !)

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Editor's Note: Val is one of our long time very activeadopters in Delaware who saw a need in her community andstepped up. This is the spirit, the sentiment and the dedicationthat makes the good stuff happen. If you would like to contributeto Val's ongoing fundraising effort here's the website:www.policek9safety.com and yes there's a donation page.Thanks, Val...it's an inspiration to us all. One of the ultimateFeel Good stories!

If anyone thinks that one person can’t make a difference, Iwanted to share my story to show how anyone passionate abouta cause can make a difference, alone or with a group.

Since I adopted my first greyhound 20 years ago I havebeen passionate about raising awareness for their sufferng andneed for help. I have supported various groups over the yearsand eventually found Greyhound Adoptions of Florida, who Iconsider family. Being such a close-knit group, I have learned somuch through watching, listening and having manyconversations with Marilyn and her supporters.

My first passion will always be greyhounds, but one day Iread a news story that made me want to get involved in anothercause. The story was about a police dog who was shot andkilled in the line of duty – the officers were wearing bullet proofvests but the dog was not. Something drew me to look into thisfurther and I found that K-9 bulletproof vests were not standardissue and police departments have to raise their own fundsthrough charity to purchase vests for their dogs. I didn’t knowhow but I felt the need to help.

After some internet research I decided to start a GoFundMepage this past June. I supplemented that by sharing withFacebook and the initial response was overwhelming. In onemonth I was able to raise enough to purchase a vest, which costsabout $900, for a local police department. They were sograteful, they had a small dedication ceremony where I was ableto meet the officers and police dogs, and a reporter was there torun a story in the local newspaper. This particular departmenthas 12 Police K-9’s and had only one K-9 vest for all of them toshare before our donation.

Making a Difference, by Valerie DeLisle

Page 5Making a Difference, continued

With both the GoFundMe page and thenewspaper article, donations were still coming in.The newspaper article even inspired one person todonate an entire vest to the same PoliceDepartment. Given the amount of support I'dreceived at that point, I decided to take thingsfurther and form an official charity. Within days ofour first vest dedication I filed to form a non-profitcorporation, applied for our 501(c)(3) and had acouple people interested in serving as Officers.We created a website and a Facebook page to helpget the word out.

In mid-September we had the funds topurchase our 2nd vest for a different PoliceDepartment and early October we ordered our 3rdand 4th – all to different departments. During themonth of October we ran our first fundraiser,which made it possible for us to purchase a 5thvest. We are now in the process of creating adatabase of Police Departments with K-9 units sothat going forward we can donate vests todepartments most in need in our home state ofDelaware and across the country.

One small idea to raise funds through a GoFundMe pagefor a K-9 bullet proof vest in memory of a fallen K-9 Hero hasled to 5 protected Police Dogs in just over 4 months. It onlytakes one person to have an idea to help those in need – whetherit be human or animal. Once others hear of your idea andpassion, there will always be those who will want to help makeyour idea a reality!

And Just Because These Are So Very Cute...

Janet Swanson's Shiloh has little interestin DogTV but his kitten friend Havaseems to be entranced.

GAF's “house girls” have the same “digestivestrategy” after a huge breakfast.

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Jerry

It was just over 12 years ago that our vet called and asked if we wouldbe willing to take a severely damaged 10 month old greyhound pup.When we drove into the parking lot we didn’t have a clue what we wouldsee or how this giant, injured puppy would change our lives.

Chelle, good friend and vet tech, carried him out to us…he wasbig…he had to hurt with all the injuries, wounds and a broken leg…but

Marilyn's Thoughts

he saw us and his tail wagged and he squirmed to get down and visit withall the folks in the waiting room.

He had been brought in by a farm owner to be put down. When shefirst saw him, she was shocked to see that he obviously had been kicked andstomped on by a human. His left rear leg was shattered and the brokenfemur had been pushed up into the hip socket and done a huge amount ofdamage. The leg just hung there as he was unable to control it. Heobviously had been laying in the dirt on his “good” side and developedwhat I would call a “bed sore” that left him open almost to the hip. Hewas full of infection from all the dirt and bacteria. He had broken toes onthree feet. There were wounds all over him. And still his tail wagged.

I looked at Bob, he looked and me and silentlyloaded our new boy into the van and drove him downto AVS in Orlando for what was to become a fiveweek stay with approximately 7 surgeries to put himback together again. And he wagged his tail ateveryone he saw…something we were to see him dofor the rest of his life. For all he had been through andwas to go through, he never lost his love of humans.

Page 7Marilyn's Thoughts, continued

His bad leg needed to be amputated. There was nothing left to save. The“hole” on the opposite side was closed in two or three surgeries with a flap of skintaken from his belly. It came with a blood supply and a nipple…soon to lovingly bereferred to as a “hipple”….a nipple placed on a hip. Not a true medical term, buta perfect description of an oddity we had never seen before or since.

While he healed well physically, he hated being in a hospital crate and forced towear an e-collar. He howled and carried on for weeks, disturbing every other dogin the hospital! Finally, just before Christmas, we were told he could come home!We were also told he chewed at least one blanket a day leaving shredded pieceseverywhere and was personally responsible for the destruction of 14 e-collars.

Thank heavens none of that appeared on his bill!!

It didn’t take long for us to realize that no one evertold him he was different than other greyhounds. Hedidn’t have to “learn” to walk and run on threelegs…he never remembered doing otherwise. He couldcounter-surf with the best of them. That one remainingback leg was amazingly strong and muscled. He wasfast…if you didn’t know he only had three legs, it wasimpossible to tell when he ran. And run, he did! He

spent hours running the field with his jolly ball swinging from his jaws! He coulddig huge holes quickly and be so proud of himself! He was the first to greet everyvisitor who came to meet the Grey Haven kids. He jumped on the couch the firstweek he was home and that became “his” place, day and night.

When Bob died, Jerry became “my” dog…he followed me everywhere…heslept curled up next to me every night, usually with his head on my pillow. Heneeded his humans and we needed him. He brought unparalleled joy into thehouse. He never had a bad day until he grew old and his body started to fail him.While he was strong, he taught me to be the same. He reminded me every day thatwe never know what life will drop in our laps and we better learn to make the bestof it. Life is short and it’s a gift. Don’t waste it. Love others and they will returnthe warmth with smiles and hugs. I watched him live his life that way and I tried tofollow his rules.

He was my gift…he came to me at what was to be a difficult time and hereminded me every day to keep going…do better and keep smiling…lessons I willnever forget. I miss him every day and I’ll never be able to fill that empty place inmy heart. But I wouldn’t have changed a single thing. He was truly my miracle.

Happy Holidays to all…

I wish you health, smiles, love and the gift of a Jerry in your life.

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Editor's Note: A second dog, yes or no? It's a big questionand let's face it, every family member has a say. Here's how theBelardi's managed it...!

To get a second Grey or not – we kept going back and forth.We both work full time and our son is off to college so can wehandle another Grey?

We’ve had our big boy Bondo for 4-1/2 years. It’s beenamazing he’s such a low maintenance, sweet natured boy. Hehad situated himself as “king” of the house, whatever he wantedhe got and maybe along the way got just a bit spoiled. So ourmain concern was would he be OK with another family member.This was a really big concern for us as we didn’t want to upsetlife as Bondo knows it: his quiet and relaxing “kingdom.”

And then we saw that picture of Lacy. Just as when I firstsaw Bondo I fell in love with her, too, and knew she was ours.Not to mention she’s a Mini Me of Bondo, only 30 poundssmaller. After checking with our dear friend Nancy Roberts andMarilyn to make sure Bondo would be open to a little sister wedid it. BEST THING EVER!

Lacy is the sweetest, cutest little love bug ever. When sheand Bondo first met it was like, ok – just another play date forBondo. When he realized she was staying much longer hequietly watched her. She was so full of energy and happy to havea house to investigate she didn’t pay him much attention at first.As the days went on she truly became his little sister...she wouldwatch to see if he took the cookie before she would, she followedhim all around to see what was good to sniff. He just watchedher, accepting all.

I have realized that little girls are a bit more mischievous thanbig goofy boys. One morning Lacy woke up and we were still inbed, she was “investigating” and found a Phillies rally towel inmy closet. Well this was one of those moments that when one ofyour kids does something and you don’t have a camera handy.She proceeded to run through the bedroom waving the towel likea super fan. Bondo just lay on his bed and looked at me likeMom, please make her stop – I’m still sleeping. So funny, Ididn’t have the heart to tell her we’re Yankees fans (!).

Adding to Our Family, by Donna Belardi

Tiny addendum: Some time back I gotBondo a new bed and it was a little too puffyand it took him a week to finally try it out.Well, I got an even puffier, if that's a word, bedfor Lacy. Really nice with faux mink ontop...Bondo wouldn't even go near it until mylittle princess loved it. Now he's such a bullywhen she's on it he stands over her and juststares at her until she gets up then he jumpsright on. I don't think I like this mean side ofmy big boy, but Lacy's so easy-going she'll sleepanywhere. I have found her several times onour bed lying across all of our pillows! Littlebugger, when I tell her to get down she just rollsupside down and gives me that look that says“you know you're not mad at me, Mom.” Sothere I was buying another really puffy bed!The “kids” have to have equal goodies!

It’s only been a few weeks and already it's likewhen we first got Bondo; it seems like they've beenwith us forever. I can’t believe we waited and worriedbefore adding Lacy. It’s truly been the bestexperience for us, Bondo and I hope Lacy.

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The Fall has brought along some great cooler weather so we can nowbegin getting together without overheating!

We had our first club meeting at the El Santiago Recreation Center inOctober and had a productive meeting. We had a good turnout, Marilynand Russ talked about how the money the club raises helps with medical billsand how much one broken leg dog costs, what a good relationship GAF haswith local vets. Russ discussed the legislative bills – all in all, a veryinformative evening.

The Fundraising season is off to a good start! Our first get together wasat The Blessing of the Animals at Lutheran Hope Church, we had a Greytturnout including some new members, Kathy & Joe Femia with their dogHarvey, Helga and some friends from the Senior Group. We talked to lotsof people about adoption and sold dog cookies and handmade decorativecollars that Marge made for various seasons. We had two GiveBack days atChili’s – many of us took advantage of not cooking for two days in a row!We’ll do another in the Spring.

We just finished the Himalayan Putting Course Challenge at PalmerLegends Golf Course on Saturday, November 19th. We ran two groups,one at Noon and one at 3:00 PM – everyone had a great time and want todo it again in the Spring. The day was perfect, not hot, nice breeze andeveryone had a hard time with the 8th hole! We had two 50/50 drawings,and a drawing for a nice new putter won by Jan Krna!

We have lots of things coming up in the Spring with our FlapjackFundraiser (Pancake Breakfast) at Applebee’s on Hwy. 441 and BicharaBlvd. on Saturday, February 4th from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM. Tickets areready for sale at $7 each for 3 fluffy pancakes and sausage, coffee, tea orjuice for refreshment. This fundraiser is for anyone who wants to attend, youdon’t have to be a Villager! So, if you want tickets to attend or to sell, pleasecontact me either by phone (352)753-6563 or by email anglia48@aol.com .

Our Annual Night Golf at Saddlebrook Golf Course is scheduled forSaturday, February 18th ; in order to play, players must have a Villages IDcard. We will take reservations for teams now if you want to play, the costwill be $16/per person to cover golf course fees, golf glowball, and glownecklace, again contact me with names, etc.

We are looking forward to a productive and fun Winter and Spring!

The Report from The Villages Greyhound Club, by Carol Bellavia, President

Newsletter Contact: Joyce CartaJoyce@JoyceCarta.com

Production: Phil Carta

Blessing of the Animals

Lining up teams for the Putting Challenge

Chris Landy's parentsand their super quiet

“greyhound” - !

The 8th Hole of the Putting Challenge