Holidays and New Greyhounds – Oh. Wait!

I’ve been busily preparing for the holidays.  What specialties for the new kids for Thanksgiving?  They’ll savor the smells.  I hope they don’t think this is normal.  Then Christmas is coming.  I’ve got to finish their stockings and wrap their presents.  Sans tree.  (The tree has disaster written all over it.)  I won’t be home Christmas day, but I don’t think they’ll really realize that we celebrate it a few days later. 

While I’ve been busy making everything right for DeeDee and Craigie, more and more comes out about the special agreement Australia has with Macau.  That paused my frivilous, though important, greyhound holiday planning.  Not all greyhounds are this luck.  Australia and Macau?

You know.  Macau.  Animal welfare is not a hot ticket there.

Australia, I hold to higher standards, but I am not sure why.  Apparently, they (Australia) have a greyhound racing industry that is government state funded or subsidized by that.  Sounds familiar to the crutch the government allows Florida and other states’ racing, huh.

The difference in the AU-Macau agreement is there is no hope for adoption of the greyhounds in Macau.  There is no return of greyhounds to Australia because of quarantine issues, if not other reasons.  There is nothing.  Nothing for the greyhounds once their racing days are done.

They are killed.  Period.  Can’t race?  Killed.  Injured?  Killed.  There is a “No deposit, no return” policy between Australia and Macau apparently.

I stopped my planning for the holidays.  In support of GREY2K USA’s efforts to get the greyhound Brooklyn adopted, I have sent letters to the Prime Minister of Australia and the Canidrome management.

My efforts to make the holidays special for my rescues are not suspended for long.  I owe that to them.  They gave a lot to people who only appreciated them until they stopped earning.  Then they were dead weight.  Much like the dogs of Macau.

Whereas the dogs of Macau have nothing but death waiting, ours have the potential for adoption.  And for that reason, I’ll make this their best holiday ever!  Of that, I have no doubt.

And for the dogs condemned to Macau, I will help in the effort.  There is no reason a young, healthy dog needs to die.

This is the picture of how they should live.

To read more about the effort, there is an article in the Macau Daily Times.  Front page.  And blessedly, another article with more encouraging news.