We received some amazing news recently, we have been awarded £8,000 from Petplan to help with the ongoing care of greyhounds and lurchers. We continue to see a significant increase in our veterinary bills and are expecting these to reach as much as £77,000 this year.
The majority of the ex-racing greyhounds often come to us with long-running health and/or behavioural issues. The grant from Petplan will be a huge help towards these costs and mean we can continue to provide a safe space and their recovery.
The grant will help pay for veterinary costs such as dental procedures including scale, polish and extractions, neutering, vaccinations, pain medication, microchipping, flea/wormer, blood tests and emergency limb surgery.
Ten year old Maeve came into our care after no longer being needed for the racing industry. As well as previous health issues, including a broken leg, she was in desperate need of a dental, which as mentioned isn’t uncommon to see. However, Maeve’s story is different to your usual routine dental!
Shortly after having a staggering 35 teeth removed Maeve started to bleed heavily from her gums and she started to haemorrhage. After such a large extraction this was the last thing we wanted for this poor girl, she had already been through so much. Although costly, her extended stay at the vets was imperative to her survival. They were able to keep a very close eye on her and give her everything she needed during such a worrying time. We were all on tenterhooks until we received the phone call to say she would be able to be discharged from the vets.
We suspect the reason Maeve started to bleed so heavily could be linked to medication often given to racing dogs to ‘improve’ their speed, if this is the case this is absolutely heart-breaking because this traumatic experience could have been avoided.
Although her mouth was very sore, Maeve remained in good spirits and was able to slowly eat small portions of food. After a few weeks and multiple check-ups at the vet Maeve was in a much better condition and she was much happier in herself.
She soon found a home with wonderful new parents where she will be utterly spoilt – and so she should be after what she went through.
We continue to see hounds coming into our care in very poor condition – sick, injured, abused or with severe neglect or behavioural issues. More than half have painful injuries to their joints. Some have parasitic infections, such as lungworm, which can be fatal if not treated.
All of the greyhounds and lurchers we rescue from the racing industry and from illegal coursing come into our care unneutered, as well as dental treatment, this is one of the biggest costs we face when preparing dogs for their forever homes. As we are caring for larger breeds this means neutering costs can reach up to £400 per dog.
Caron Lane, CEO explained “We are so thankful to receive this funding from Petplan at such a vital period. As a small charity it has been unprecedented times for us and when costs keep rising we are also seeing a huge demand in pleas for help. This is creating a ‘perfect storm’ and sadly we are needing to add dogs to a waiting list. This is the last decision we want to make and we hope that now we start to see funding come in we will be able to help more dogs that desperately need us.”
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