I don’t know why people are afraid to go direct to trainers for dogs.
This lovely dog was bred and raced by the trainer and after a few minor, terrifying incidents, like the tv and toys…just look at him…He has adjusted to being in a home within weeks.
There are a lot of dogs out there needing homes, please lets get them out of the Industry and on to sofa’s…
ps Thanks Helen, he is a very lucky greyhound boy…Deb
Those of a certain age will have Sgt Pepper in their head for the rest of the day. For Tia, it means
the day we didn’t sell our soul to the racing industry…the NGRC as it was then, more recently the GBGB.
God knows we could have used the cash. Tia was still reeling after the break in, a piece of spite
which left two dogs dead and six on drips. A rottie cross called Dougie was stolen a few weeks later
and we just didn’t know where to turn for money. If that wasn’t enough, we were about to lose the
kennels at the Sewage plant. There was no way we could go on.
The media wasn’t the tyrant it is now but there had been a few exposes concerning the treatment of
retired greyhounds. People were changing too. Something called the internet arrived and mobiles
and emails became indispensable. Corporations became slicker and the racing industry realised they
needed to get their house in order. Perhaps try working with rescues instead of pretending they
didn’t exist. Forge links with some of the more troublesome independents and turn the poachers
into gamekeepers.
You’ll never know how hard it was to tear up that cheque.
Oddly enough our luck started to change soon after. An adopter who worked in Health and Safety,
bought us a years breathing space. A legacy came through enabling us to buy Moorside and secure
our future. Dougie showed up, covered in chain cuts but alive and we kept yelling at anyone who
would listen.
On the 1st of September 2020 the GRS was launched by the industry. The Greyhound Retirement Scheme where every greyhound will live happily after….every rescue could benefit from £400 for every greyhound they took in. It didn’t matter what happened to the dog after that. The carcasses that were recovered from Rebecca Perkins kennels and outside pit being only one example.
The criteria? You cannot say anything against the industry/tell the truth. Obviously the Independents were furious and kept well away from their hush money. The struggling all breed rescues, it was Covid afterall, took every penny/greyhound they could get…everybody wanted dogs, it was a perfect storm.
Oh I had lots of visits from the Industries Stipendary Stewards and Welfare officers, please sign up, please sign up…. Dave Baldwin who I toyed with endlessly, nice guy. Chris Hufton who had been warned about me but was so far out of his depth it was laughable. I had asked him to investigate a dog called Thom (Thunder Snowball ) who had been sold on for flapping with a broken hock…he went to great lengths to tell me and Bob that he had been to the owners house and had “no concerns” He did however turn a slight shade of green when I told him the dog he was stroking, with the broken hock, was Thom.
Mark Brid the Managing Director even came round in the end confident he would change my mind, he’d be able to do it.
In the end I put them out of their misery and showed them the framed cheque.
The kennels here at Nairn are nearly finished. The office will be an integral part of the building and
above my desk will hang the attached as it did at Moorside and Millrace.
“twenty years on and we are still throwing punches”
https://www.facebook.com/677564631/videos/700787425325211/
Massive thanks to everyone who sent them…Xmas presents for all the dogs…
An email we received from Lauren regarding River:
Hi DebI just wanted to say thank you to you and Bob for all the work you both do. I’d never had a dog before I came to Tia. When we first came to look at dogs with you, we weren’t entirely convinced we were ready for a dog but you saw something in us and entrusted us with Rocket.Within days of having Rocket (Wyatt) at home I was hooked and knew I needed to have more greyhounds in my life. That’s when we came back to you to meet some more dogs, and River chose us. Sadly not long after then, we lost Rocket to bone cancer so we brought River back so she could choose another buddy, Ramodi (Carter).As you know, I lost Ramodi 2.5 years ago, again to bone cancer, but thankfully River was not left without another dog for company for long as we then moved in with Billy the black lab.I’ve had a lifetime to remember with River. Together we’ve experienced 5 house moves, 2 dog losses, lots of wonderful holidays, a divorce, some bad dating choices, a marriage this year and finally, the birth of my daughter, Earla.After 9 years together on this journey, I lost River today aged 13 years and 9 months. She has lived a full and happy life in my care, but sadly today was her last.Thank you for trusting me with your dogs. My life and theirs would not have been the same had we of not found each other.I will be in touch again when Earla is old enough to know how to behave around these beautiful animals, as I want her to grow up with them in her life given how much joy they bring.I’ve attached a few pictures of River (2010-2023). RIP my girl 🌈Lauren xx
The manager at Boath House, Auldearn has very kindly invited us to do a Xmas event in the grounds of the hotel in the stunning 400 year old walled garden.
It is a stunning location and we can’t wait.
We have lots of stalls, including Vitamin Sea, Lawn & Order, Lemlem Candles, Jackie with her wood craft, Morgan with her lovely trinkets and paw prints of your dogs. We also have our lovely Olivia, Zara Arts Portraits who does wonderful pet portraits. We will have our own stalls too, including a cake stall, tombola and a huge hamper to raffle..
But the main star of the show will be Santa, he is coming especially to see your lovely hounds and is making up goodie bags for the dogs right now…
Dandy our minaiture donkey will also be coming, he hates missing out on his Xmas appearances.
Boath House will be putting on hot drinks, hot chocolate, mulled wine and mince pies…so even if you don’t want to see Santa you can shop and be merry…It is free entry to the event and £8 to see Santa.
We do have availability for a few more stalls, so if you are interested in attending…please email deb@tia-rescue.org
Sunday the 3rd December 12noon – 4pm …. Save the date!!
