Amaya’s story

Meet Amaya, one of the latest greyhounds to join us here at Forever Hounds Trust while she awaits her forever home. Amaya is a remarkable dog. She only has three legs, but we don’t think anyone has told her that, because she certainly isn’t letting it prevent her from enjoying a potter round the garden or a snuggle on the sofa!

Amaya hasn’t always looked like this though. In fact, less than a month ago she was winning her race at an unlicensed race track. That’s when disaster struck and she crashed out, breaking her hock as she went down.

A broken greyhound is of no use to the racing industry, and so she was handed over to rescuers who vowed to fix her and allow her to live out the rest of her life as a much-loved pet rather than a money-making commodity.

Unfortunately for Amaya, her hock fracture proved to be a complicated one, and after much discussion with veterinary surgeons it was decided that the best option for Amaya, and the one that would give her the best chance of living a relatively normal life as quickly as possible, would be to amputate the leg.

Despite losing a limb, Amaya has recovered remarkably well. Her wound is healing quickly and she is already up and about, trotting around on the three legs she does have.

Amaya is almost five years’ old, and we know that she was raced on registered tracks until the end of last year and has then somehow found herself on an unregistered track, also known as a ‘flapping’ track, where she incurred her horrific injury. Flapping tracks can be a tough place for dogs, but in some ways Amaya was lucky the day she was injured, because there were a team of rescuers there ready to take her to safety, and an owner willing to let her be taken.

Jan Lake, Chair of Trustees for Forever Hounds Trust said: “While one of the reasons Forever Hounds Trust exists is to help hounds like Amaya, and we are glad we are able to help her in her hour of need and offer her a future, we do ask ourselves how this can be allowed to happen? How, in 2019, can dogs be injured like this as a result of ‘sport’ for humans and a charity such as ours left to pick up the pieces as well as the veterinary bill?”

The veterinary bill for Amaya has already run to almost £2,000 and there are still more costs to come. If you are able to make a donation to help Forever Hounds Trust help Amaya and other dogs like her, please do visit our Just Giving page. https://www.justgiving.com/foreverhoundstrust