My Nonprofit Reviews

We adopted our first greyhound, Daisy (Jiminy Michaela), through Second Chance Greyhounds in January 2012. We had researched many different breeds, and retired racing greyhounds seemed ideal for us, with their gentle, calm disposition, lack of shedding and doggy smell, acceptable exercise needs (less than we ever had thought!), and the most important: we'd be saving a life by adopting one of these lovely hounds. The benefit of getting a trained greyhound, instead of one straight off the tracks, greatly appealed to us as novice hound owners.

Daisy is shy and sweet, yet has a determined and playful character. She's now the boss of two larger male greyhounds that we have since adopted through SCG: Spirit, the loving one and Rolli, the goofy one. In adopting Daisy, we were more interested in saving a hound, and the involvement of prison inmates was a side benefit. But the more we have become involved, the more we understand the depth of value to this remarkable program. In a very short time, we became fully drawn into the mission of Second Chance Greyhounds and have been so rewarded by our involvement.

In addition to volunteering at meet and greets and helping with other projects as needed, I work on the new greyhounds' social "blogs" for the website. These are drawn from the inmates' weekly greyhound training and socialization reports. Reading inmate comments such as "she is my ray of light in this dark place" and "I'm so grateful to be a part of the program. To be able to provide love, trust, and training to these dogs on a daily basis has been my greatest achievement" has made me realize even more just how rich and beneficial this program is. For the hounds it's a place to help with transition, with a caring person/people who will provide the skills and love to help them through a significant adjustment from kennel and track life. For the inmate trainers, it's a gift of a wonderful, loving connection with these gentle hounds and a sense of purpose and responsibility in training and caring for them, which even has the potential for some to lead to a post-prison career opportunity as a vet tech - the prison runs vet tech classes. For the eventual forever family, there is not only the benefit of getting a greyhound already familiar with basic commands and with other people, but also the knowledge that others who need help in life have benefited as well.

Second Chance Greyhounds follows up post-adoption with "human training," with visits to the kennels, to the track and to a puppy farm, as well as organizing gatherings with the greyhounds. Information on greyhound health and other issues or news is shared constantly within the group and there is a forum for any questions or need for help. Sharing knowledge and providing ongoing personal support is central to the organization's success, and the wellbeing of the hounds is at the heart of what SCG does. We are a group of people with the good fortune to be part of a very inspirational program. I could not have been luckier than to find Second Chance Greyhounds and adopt these three loving hounds in the knowledge of how much good is being done in the whole process - it's changed my life.

There are other choices for greyhound adoption in the Atlanta area, and they all work hard to save retired racing greyhounds, but they can't match the reach of benefit achieved through this very special inmates and greyhounds prison partnership.

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