Welcome to Edition Ten of the GAP newsletter! We hope you’ll find it an informative and enjoyable read.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

6th April - Eastern Regional Pet Expo, Ferntree Gully. Ferntree Gully Recreation Reserve, Brenock Park Dr, Ferntree Gully. 10am to 4pm. Come along and pat the greyhounds!

6th April - Park Orchards Playgroup. 1.00pm - 3.00pm. Stintons Reserve, Stintons Rd, Park Orchards. Melways ref 35 B8. Everyone is welcome but only greyhounds are allowed to run on the track.

13th April - Melbourne University Vet Clinic Open Day, Werribee. Come along and pat the greyhounds!

13th April - Ballarat Playgroup. 2.00pm - 4.00pm. Ballarat Greyhound Track, Rubicon St, Ballarat. Everyone is welcome but only greyhounds are allowed to run on the track.

20th April - Tootgarook Playgroup. 1.00pm - 3.00pm. Truemans Road Reserve, Truemans Rd, Rosebud West. Melways ref 169 E6. Everyone is welcome but only greyhounds are allowed to run on the track.

20th April - Greyhound Walking Club gathering. Abbotsford Convent, Abbotsford. Located in St Heliers St (Melways ref 2D C9). On the day of the walk there will be two markets at the convent. For details on parking etc, visit www.abbotsfordconvent.com.au. Everyone welcome! If you are running late or lost, please phone Steve on 0432 873 821.

4th May - Greyhound Walking Club gathering. Emrald Lake Park (Melways ref 127 K4). Meet at 10.30am. More details about where to meet etc will be published later. Everyone welcome! If you are running late or lost, please phone Steve on 0432 873 821.

4th May - Park Orchards Playgroup. 1.00pm - 3.00pm. Stintons Reserve, Stintons Rd, Park Orchards. Melways ref 35 B8. Everyone is welcome but only greyhounds are allowed to run on the track.

11th May - Ballarat Playgroup. 2.00pm - 4.00pm. Ballarat Greyhound Track, Rubicon St, Ballarat. Everyone is welcome but only greyhounds are allowed to run on the track.

18th May - Tootgarook Playgroup. 1.00pm - 3.00pm. Truemans Road Reserve, Truemans Rd, Rosebud West. Melways ref 169 E6. Everyone is welcome but only greyhounds are allowed to run on the track.

28th June - GAP RACE NIGHT. The Meadows, Broadmeadows. More details in the May newsletter.

GAP always has lots of fantastic greyhounds that are available for adoption. Each month we will choose one special dog to profile. But remember all of our dogs ready to adopt can be found on our website, just click on the link below to check out all of the dogs currently available. Angel, the greyhound featured in the last newsletter, has now found a home!

TINA

If you are wanting a dog who loves to chase a ball, then Tina is your girl! She's a true sighthound and is very movement-stimulated, so she loves chasing moving objects like tennis balls. She's a friendly, active, playful and affectionate girl who doesn't mind the odd jog or two. She's fine living as an only dog with a full time worker. She also enjoys playing with other larger dogs or school aged children (she's a little too boisterous for the small ones). Tina is the daughter of the beautiful senior dog Lucky who was recently adopted by GAP.

Dear Oscar,

People keep calling me a whippet and I'm getting very sick of it. They look at my big brother and say "I didn't realize greyhounds were so big!" and then they look at me and say "Is that a whippet?" I am starting to feel quite insulted, especially since I always wear my green GAP collar, which identifies me as a GREYHOUND, albeit a petite one. I was even called a whippet at the GAP Christmas party and I thought people there would know better. Now, don't get me wrong, I've nothing against whippets. I have met quite a few now and they have all seemed very nice. And they are all MUCH SMALLER than me.

Before I realized that a whippet was another type of dog, I thought it was some reference to my being too slow on the race track. I thought that couldn't be right because I runandrunandrun very fast. Then I thought they were complimenting me because I heard this Devo song (you know, the one about whippets being good). But that didn't make sense either because my owners keep saying I'm not a whippet and I know they love me and I'm mostly good except when I find their plastic shoes on the back deck (they are so fun to runandrunandrun and toss and catch and runandrunandrun with).

I have tried all I can think of to stop these misconceptions. I have even gained some weight (especially since my owners started feeding me ADVANCE) but I don'tw ant to get too fat either. I just want to be recognised for what I am. Do you have any suggestions?

Yours truly,

Gypsy (if I was a whippet, surely I'd be called Whypsy)

Dear Gypsy,

I'm a firm believer that size doesn't matter - look at me for example! I'm only small, but I'm the meanest, bravest, most dangerous dog around. Mum tells me I'm a pit-bull trapped in a terriers body. The secret is to think big!

Maybe, if you're really worried, you could sort of flap your ears around when you meet people so that they could see your ear-brands? That way they'll know for sure you're not a whippet.

Oscar

Dear Oscar
c/o GAP
PO Box 785
Seymour
VIC 3661

CALL TO ARMS

Whilst we're REALLY excited by the commencement of building works, demolition of some of the old outdoor and convalescence kennels means we have lost nearly one quarter of our previous kennel space. As you can imagine, this is having quite an impact on room. We bring in around 12 new dogs each week, with a similar number being desexed. You don't have to be Einstein to figure out that that doesn't leave us with much room for dogs waiting for adoptive or foster homes.

Every kennel that is taken up by a dog waiting for an adoptive or foster home is a kennel that could be used to get a new dog into GAP and on his/her way to their new life as a pet. If we can't find enough adoptive or foster homes for the dogs we have, we will have to reduce, or worse still, stop taking new dogs into GAP until we have room again. Even if we didn't take new dogs in for just one week, that's 12 dogs who would be directly impacted.

Obviously we want to do everything we can to ensure that we can continue to keep bringing as many dogs as we can into GAP during the building works. This is where we need your help!

For the next few months until our new kennels are completed, we DESPERATELY need as many people as possible to either foster or adopt our hounds. If you can't do this, consider spreading the word (if you haven't already!) to family, friends, neighbours and colleagues about how wonderful greyhounds are as pets. GAP can supply you with flyers, posters, business cards or fridge magnets to help you spread the greyhound gospel.

Remember, adopting or fostering one greyhound won't save the world, but it'll save the world for that one greyhound. YOU can be directly responsible for saving a greyhound's world.

Please don't hesitate to contact us here at GAP to find out how you can help.

A letter from a greyhound trainer

Hi everyone at GAP,

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone there. My greyhound Junior's Gypsy (Oscar) was adopted by two wonderful people and has been with them for over six months now. We email each other and they keep me up to date with Oscar's progress.

I'm so happy that he made it through the Program and got such a great home, it is a credit to you all.

Training greyhounds is great, but letting go of them is one of the hardest things to do.

Thanks!

Pam Tabone

A huge thank you to Bayer Australia and Advance for your continued support during 2008. With your assistance our hounds are parasite free and well fed!