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A note from Niamh....... 19 September 2004.....Aishling and Feidlhim...

I'm sure you know about Aishling the greyhound we are trying to catch.Well last night Elaine and myself went to feed her and believe it or not she ate out of our hands. We were thrilled. We didn't want to scare her too much so didn't try and catch her.We went up today and a man said she had gone out the hospital gates and out the road. I got it in my head to visit all the gypsy sites in case she had gone there.

We went to Castletroy and found this poor greyhound whom we have called Feidlhim. This means fortunate in Ireland - pronounced Felim.

Feidlhim

He belongs to Willie Reilly and I had a job getting him. His foot is horrific. I think it was caught in a trap.You can see the bone severed in two and he has such a bad wound infection the wound spreads right around his foot.

This happened a couple of days ago and the dog had been left unattended.Willie was going on "it's my son's dog and no money will buy him."

I just said, "Willie get lost," and took the dog. He's about a year so quiet and gentle and he is so underweight. Elaine and I took him to the vet and he got a pain relief shot and antibiotics. He endured a very painful dressing; he howled and it was heartbreaking. Just at the end Mike the vet put on a muzzle (just for a short while) as he was out of it in pain. I really think he should have had an anaesthetic but he's in such poor condition it would have been a risk.

Feidhlim is sleeping now all cozy in the vets he'll have to endure these painful dressings for a long time to come. If you get a chance will you see if you can put his story up on the web as I'm sure we will have to give Willie Reilly money for him plus its going to be a massive vet bill, but it will be worth every cent; he's a treasure.

Elaine and I are off again now to see if we can catch Aishling. We are getting so sad not being able to help her. It's getting dark and the hosptial grounds are so sad. It's really spooky... if only we could get her.

talk to you soon

Niamh

KERRY GREYHOUND HOMEFINDERS

                       UPDATE JANUARY 2004

Thanks to the ongoing support from AEGA, KGH has to date homed sixteen greyhounds!!

EMILY - our first homing, is still happily settled here in Co. Kerry. I see her regularly and she is a new dog these days.

CONNELL - very happily now resides in Germany (see photo).

SHELLEY + INCA, two black females went to the same loving home in the north of Ireland.

PRINCE, a fawn male, and BOOTS, a brindle male with white "boots", also now live happily in the north of  Ireland in families with delighted small children.

"HARVEY THE PUP" is now a handsome 18 month old and is still with me at home, along with MEGAN, a black girl (Shelley's sister), George a troublesome stray spaniel from Dublin and Maggie, a rescue whippet.

BETSEY, the brindle girl who came from Avalon to live in Tralee has moved with her family to Kildare. They visited at Christmas and what a waggy girl she is.

BLONDIE, the fawn & white stray lurcher from Dublin lives happily in Norwich, England with two other lurchers.

QUEENIE, a five year old fawn brood bitch, DAMSEL (now JASMINE) and ROSIE all went via KGH to Greyhound Rescue West of England and are now all happily settled in lovely homes in England.

KESTY, a tiny graceful brindle bitch went to live in Amsterdam with a chunky ChowChow - what a pair they make!

And FRED, a black & white male, and KENTUCKY, a stunning blue brindle female, are now happily living in Co. Cork. Poor Kentucky has eight cats to put up with!!

            So that's the story so far from Co. Kerry. We have four hounds "on the books" at the moment - Springsteen and Milo in foster care, and Francis and Holly in the kennel spaces. Take a look at them - they're on www.irishanimals.com.

            Holly has a home lined up in England and on looking out for one bitch to relace her in the kennel space, I have somehow ended up with two bitches and a dog. Yes I know the math doesn't add up, but how could I take one and leave two to be destroyed? I'm collecting them tomorrow..........

            Heartfelt thanks from the Irish greys for your generous and ongoing support.

            Love and greyhound greetings,

            Amanda, Kerry Greyhound Homefinders

News from Kerry Greyhound Homefinders....... 12 December 2002 And Then There Were Four: Betsey, Harvey and Blondie The three latest adoptions by Kerry Greyhound Homefinders are Betsey, a beautiful brindle bitch from Avalon Greyhound Sanctuary in Co. Galway, Harvey, a small greyhound or lurcher puppy, unwanted and dumped into a river, and Blondie, a tan and white lurcher from Dublin. Betsey now lives with a young couple in Tralee, Co. Kerry. I couldn't put Connell, (my adoption dog in local kennels) into that home because the couple were also very keen on cats. They didn't actually have a cat when Betsey went to them but I'd made sure to get them a cat-friendly greyhound anyway (the stray cat problem over here is as overwhelming as the stray dog one). Betsey, Connell and Harvey at the Kerry Greyhound Homefinders meeting in The Greyhound Bar Tralee Co. Kerry. Sure enough, within a week or two of them adopting Betsey a tiny stray kitten followed them home who joined the family and is now great friends with Betsey. Glad I followed my instincts on that one! And Betsey seems to have developed an extremely waggy tail since she found her new home. Harvey came to me after being found almost dead and infested with fly-eggs having presumably scrambled out of the river into which he'd been dumped. He was about 6 weeks old. He is brindle and looks like a full greyhound - perhaps his mum got together with the "wrong" greyhound father. He came to me as a short-term foster, quickly regained his health and strength, is totally adorable and very quickly weaseled his way into all of our affections (apart from the husband's that is, but I'm afraid he's outnumbered). So Harvey is home to stay! Blondie was found wandering the streets of Dublin - mangy, starving and afraid. She was fortunate in that she was picked up by Bob, an animal welfare man in the city, who phoned me to see if I could take her. As it happened, I had a space available in the kennels with Connell so I told Bob that once he'd sorted out the mange, I'd take her. In the event, when I went to Dublin to pick her up, I was also meeting my sister from England that weekend. Jill (my sister) met Blondie, totally fell for her, and booked her onto the plane to England the next day! She now lives happily with three children and two other lurchers and by all accounts is the most mischievous one of the bunch! So that's the story from Kerry so far, and I promise I'll keep you updated as soon as there are any more developments.  Greyhound Greetings, Amanda, Kerry Greyhound Homefinders. Harvey the pup and Albert the kitten with their two apprentice minders. News from Kerry Greyhound Homefinders....... 3 September 2002 At last we have a happy tail from Ireland. Kerry Greyhound Homefinders in association with the American-European Greyhound Alliance has homed it's first hound! Emily, a beautiful little black and white bitch, has gone to live in the seashore village of Glenbeigh, County Kerry. Emily (now Emma - previous quote from new owners..."the only thing we don't like about her is her name!") is a shy little girl and is finding living in a home for the first time ever a somewhat steep learning curve; however, all those strange household appliances are more than compensated for by all the love and affection she is receiving from her new humans. She has already taken over the bed and is making sure the existing dogs in the house aren't getting the upper paw too much! She's been in her new home two weeks now so we're quietly confident that things are going to continue to progress in the right direction. Fingers and toes crossed! We also have a brindle and white male, Connell in local kennels who will be visiting a potential adopter this week and another couple awaiting a home check with a cat friendly greyhound lined up for them if all goes well there. So greyhound adoption is beginning to happen in Ireland. Wish us luck!! Amanda Saunders-Perkins Kerry Greyhound Homefinders A Note from Louise Coleman........ Marion Fitzgibbon and I have been working for some time on trying to find a way to start a real greyhound adoption effort in Ireland. The Irish have a bias against greyhounds as companion animals. They are seen in Ireland pretty much as agricultural commodities. Recently Marion met an English woman living in County Kerry who has worked with a greyhound adoption group in England. Via our American non-profit, the American-European Alliance, we will be raising funds to support the Irish adoption effort. It will be very small to start.........but it is a start. The new adoption worker's name is Amanda Saunders Perkins. Her adoption program is called Kerry Greyhound Homefinders. I am sending Amanda the adoption information we use and also some safety collars and leashes, etc. If anyone would like to send her some encouraging words her email is kerrygreyhound@eircom.net. I will continue to send along to her some of the safety collars, greyhound gear, etc. that generous people are sending to me to distribute to needy dogs. To help in that effort please send materials to: Louise Coleman American-European Greyhound Alliance, Inc. 167 Saddle Hill Road Hopkinton, MA 01748 Monetary donations to purchase needed items and help with postage costs can be sent through Paypal.com (using any credit card) to the email address: Greyhndfds@aol.com or by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page. These items go a long way to change the dogs' image. They are seen in a new light when they start wearing beautiful collars. Seeing a greyhound in a lovely collar the Irish response often is......."You mean someone will actually adopt that .........dog?" I wish Amanda great luck and plan on visiting her this summer when I am over working at the Dublin Horse Show and attending the International Greyhound Welfare Forum meeting. We have to keep on connecting those dots............... Louise Coleman, Greyhound Friends, American-European Greyhound Alliance, Hopkinton, Massachusetts