02. December 2004 · Comments Off on Race for Adoption, Holiday Edition · Categories: General

As I said at the end of my earlier post, it just gets better.

Yesterday (12/1/04), we learned that Larry Birnbaum had contacted the RFA folks, and said he wanted to donate ANOTHER promising pup to Race for Adoption, with shares to be sold to a consortium again, and that he would AGAIN match the first 100 shares, resulting in another $20,000 to be donated to adoption groups. This time, both benefitting groups will be in FL – one is the FL group we were helping with the original RFA hound (Whistler’s Betty), and the other is another panhandle group, because of the huge overflow of dogs that exist in those areas. They’re working it out so the original NJ group will get a percentage of this dog’s wins, as well.

After this announcement was posted, Larry surprised us again (his generosity knows no bounds, from what I can see). He thinks it’s easier for folks to get excited about raising money when they can see a pup who’s already racing, and he’s got a Grade A girl running in St Petersburg. So he’s donating 50% of her last 3 purses to RFA, to help out the adoption groups, and generate excitement for the fund-raising. This is in addition to the new pup he’s promised that will run at Wheeling.

So there’s a very real possibility that in a mere 7 months, stemming from an idea in one man’s brain, almost $50,000 will be raised to support greyhound adoption.

That’s almost $50,000 raised without appealing to pity, or dredging up urban legends.

Almost $50,000 raised because the adoption programs and owners of adopted greyhounds teamed up with folks who work in the racing greyhound industry to put their money where their mouths are, and to make decisions that are in the best interests of the hounds.

Almost $50,000 raised because people have chosen to put aside their concerns about whether greyhound racing is good or evil, and concentrate on their area of agreement, which is how wonderful the dogs are, and how great it is to help them have a new life after retirement.

Now, I’m wondering… .why should the greyhound lovers have all the fun? If you’d like to join the consortium, and do your part to help these wonderful dogs find new lives as 45-mph couch potatoes, there’s a sponsorship form on the RFA website. If you follow the directions on the form, your donation will be tax-deductible, as well.

If you’re wondering why an animal adoption group needs so much money, there’s an article on the front page of the RFA website from one of the Florida groups, describing their typical expenses.

Thanks for reading. 🙂

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