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SHE’S BAACK !!!!!
Unlike the movie that made a variation of this phrase famous, this return was a very welcome one. Hannah, the Greyhound, was temporarily moved to a dog sitter’s home on the eve of her owners scheduled surgery. Confused by her strange surroundings, Hannah bolted from her sitter’s home, thus initiating a 9 day one sided game of “hide and seek”. A multitude of volunteers representing the three major greyhound adoption groups in the area, searched high and low for the wayward hound who managed to travel almost 30 miles from her sitters home. Through the aid of fliers posted by the many volunteers, and a Fox News story, the locals in the area surrounding Hannah’s sightings became aware of the shy girl’s plight. Finally, on day 9, with the aid of friends and volunteers, Hannah was found, and returned to her grateful owner. For more details, click on the Fox News Story.
Greyhounds Give Back
April 2010 Des Moines Register - No one else wanted the first greyhound of unheralded breeding that Gary and Bev Reicherts took in. And few people could imagine the constant care required for Angie, their mentally disabled daughter, who was deprived of oxygen at birth, was unable to read or write and who suffered from wild episodes because of a bipolar disorder.
But Saturday, on the opening day of Dubuque Greyhound Park, the Reichertses planned to cheer the unwanted greyhound's grandson who had become a champion, alongside a daughter who no longer needed medication.
It's more than a hunch that Angie and the dogs got better around each other.
 "I don't know if ... we can't see what she sees. Maybe she has insight," said Joann Nelson, Bev's sister, who gave them that first dog. "Every litter she picks out one favorite. And every dog she picks is best in the litter, money-wise." Here on the Reicherts farm near Osage, IA, the dogs that are talked to, led and fed by Angie have given back. "They calm her," Gary Reicherts said. "That's why the dogs have been so good to us." A dog named Thunder charges across the barnyard and leaps up to Angie's arms. "He likes to give hugs," Angie said.
There were days that all this bounding joy didn't seem possible.
Gary and Bev Reicherts bought this farm in brighter days in 1981, when the farm economy was bustling and they didn't yet know the depth of their toddler daughter's problems. On 4,000 acres they raised cattle, hogs and row crops. But the farm crisis hit, then the industry changed. Gary would need large-scale livestock confinements to compete. At the same time, Angie's problems deepened. She was placed in special education after kindergarten, but even then her parents noticed more issues.
Angie was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and put on medication.
Then one day Bev's sister, Joann Nelson, called.nnNelson has been involved with greyhound racing since its beginnings in Iowa in the 1980s. She told Bev of a dog in her kennel, she wanted to place in a retirement home. "There was something about this dog that was different," Nelson said. "I said she had the look of eagles. You look in her eyes, and she looks into your soul." The Reichertses adopted the dog and named her Sissy. Bev took Angie to pick up the dog. "She fell in love that day," Bev said.
 Gary soon decided the farm needed a different direction than livestock. He read up on greyhounds and found a male greyhound that would breed Sissy for free. Sixty-two days later, in a makeshift box in their kitchen, the Reichertses
watched in awe as Sissy gave birth to 10 pups. Angie spotted one pup right away and named it Thunderfoot, the first of her favorite dogs.
Experts said he and the other pups wouldn't amount to anything. But every night, the Reichertses took a golf cart out on their land and the dogs chased it, Angie howling and calling "Oh yeah, Thunderfoot!" "They would jump into a big sawdust pile and leap off, kind of like ordinary dogs," Gary said. The dogs gained strength and at 1 year old were sent to Oklahoma to be trained.
By the next August at Dubuque Greyhound Park, the dogs each had a new name, prefaced with Angie's call, "O Ya." O Ya Thunderfoot won his first race Aug. 5, 2004, on Angie's birthday. "The dog had never won," Nelson said. "This just seemed out of our hands."
Angie became easier to manage and was taken off her medication. "It changed Angie's life," Nelson said. "She would hardly go out the door before, and now she has come out of her shell. I think God told me to give them this dog."
Angie spends part of her day now at Comprehensive Systems in Charles City, where people with special needs work and play. Arriving home at 2:30 p.m., she charges out to the kennels.
The 40 of the family's 100 dogs that aren't with trainers or in racing kennels live here today and are waiting to be fed. They burst up and down the 650-foot runs, about three times the size of any suburban backyard, heads low and legs churning as they reach 45 mph. Angie points out "O Ya Elvis" and "O Ya Dolly," the tiny pups born five days before that she named for her love of music.
New buildings have been constructed with money from the dogs' winnings. The floors are heated, and barely a hint of animal smell drifts in them. Huge chunks of meat are given to the dogs as Angie mixes a milk drink fortified with vitamins and minerals.
As Angie talks of the dogs, she smiles slightly and tears fill her eyes.
Thunderfoot died last November, and she still calls out his name. But there are others now that need her attention.
Resting her palm on its shoulder, she calms one dog that is shaking because of a storm brewing on the horizon.
"I had the first litter of their pups," said former trainer Kathy Walbrun of Dubuque. "They were so gentle and
people-friendly. Angie is a big part of that. If you see them around Angie, she knows their personalities. Dogs have
a sixth sense for that."
 Breeders and people who raise greyhounds have long disputed the assertion that the sport is cruel. "A lot of people think of them as puppy mills," said Jill Paxton, bureau chief for horse and dog breeding with the Iowa Department of Agriculture. "But you don't create a future racer by keeping them cooped up in a kennel."
As the Reichertses' dogs - handled at the track by Nelson's Clayton Black Kennel - won more races, Angie became known, and patrons called out to her. Last year, the grandson of Sissy, the dog no one wanted, won the $75,000 World Classic in Miami, Fla. O Ya Tom Terrific was to race again Saturday, with Angie cheering him on.
"Our dogs gave us back more than we could ever give them," Gary said.
Jasmine Loves Animals  This is an incredible and true greyhound story about a greyhound’s love for other animals.
The place is Nuneaton Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary in Warwickshire , England. A haven for animals abandoned, orphaned, or otherwise in need.
The staff had the opportunity to take in a retired racing greyhound. They named her Jasmine, and they started to think about finding her an adoptive home.
Jasmine, however, had other ideas. No one quite remembers how it came about, but Jasmine started welcoming all animal arrivals at the sanctuary. It would not matter if it were a puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or, any other lost or hurting animal. Jasmine would just peer into the box or cage and, when and where possible, deliver a welcoming lick. 
"We had two puppies that had been abandoned by a nearby railway line. One was a Lakeland Terrier cross and another was a Jack Russell Doberman cross. They were tiny when they arrived at the center, and Jasmine approached them and grabbed one by the scruff of the neck in her mouth and put him on the couch. Then she fetched the other one and sat down with them, cuddling them.”, said the sanctuary Director.
"But she is like that with all of our animals, even the rabbits. She takes all the stress out of them, and it helps them to not only feel close to her, but to settle into their new surroundings. She has done the same with the fox and badger cubs, she licks the rabbits and guinea pigs, and even lets the birds perch on the bridge of her nose."
Jasmine became the animal sanctuary's resident surrogate mother. The list of orphaned and abandoned youngsters she has cared for comprises five fox cubs, four badger cubs, fifteen chicks, eight guinea pigs, two stray puppies  and fifteen rabbits - and one roe deer fawn. Tiny Bramble, eleven weeks old, was found semi-conscious in a field. Upon arrival at the sanctuary, Jasmine cuddled up to her to keep her warm, and then went into the full fostermom role. Jasmine the greyhound showers Bramble the roe deer with affection.
"They are inseparable," says the Director. "Bramble walks between her legs, and they keep kissing each other. They walk together round the sanctuary. It's a real treat to see them."
Jasmine will continue to care for Bramble until she is old enough to be returned to woodland life. When that happens, Jasmine will not be lonely. She will be too busy showering love and affection on the next orphan.
From all your friends at Northern Lights Greyhound Adoption, ‘Good job, Jasmine!”
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