FIRST LEINSTER CARE CENTRE OPENS TO HELP FORMER RACING GREYHOUNDS FIND HOMES IN RETIREMENT IN IRELAND

GRI

The latest Greyhound Care Centre has opened in Kildare, the first in Leinster and the first which will operate exclusively for Irish rehomings. A partnership between Rásaíocht Con Éireann (RCÉ)/ Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI) and the Irish Retired Greyhound Trust, this Care Centre is the next chapter in a racing greyhounds life and will help ex-racing greyhounds find their new families and their forever homes as pets.

The centre, which is independently run, is funded by RCÉ/GRI through the Greyhound Care Fund. The Greyhound Care Fund, which was established in 2019, is solely dedicated to supporting a range of care and welfare projects for racing greyhounds and is funded from patrons at greyhound stadia, 50% of sponsorship for greyhound racing, prizemoney and also matched by funding from RCÉ/GRI.  The Greyhound Care Centre is overseen by the Irish Retired Greyhound Trust, the industry charity that facilitates the rehoming of former racing greyhounds as pets.

At the care centre greyhounds are helped make the transition from racing on the track, to being  welcomed in a new family on their retirement. This video takes us behind the scenes as the Tom introduces us to the day-to-day life in the Care Centre and the process of matching greyhounds with their new families.

If you cannot see the embedded video above, click here to watch on our Youtube channel.

Pat Meskell, Veterinary Director with RCÉ/GRI, explains the importance of the Care Centre to our sport and the greyhounds as they provide an opportunity for “people to come and see greyhounds that they might be interested in adopting.”

“We already have a Care Centre in Co. Limerick which has been working very successfully for a number of years, but realised that we needed something in the eastern side of the country. Since 2019, approximately 8,000 Irish Greyhounds have been adopted, some by the Irish Retired Greyhound Trust and others by rehoming organisations that have been supported by the IRGT.”

Further information on Greyhound Adoption or the Care Centre can be obtained from the IRGT on irgt.ie or by emailing irgt@grireland.ie.