Scooby North America

February News 2016

2/18/2016

We are very excited to welcome Greyhound Crossroads as a new partner here in the USA. Greyhound crossroads will take galgos into their care and foster and adopt into wonderful forever homes.
Everyone is very excited about this new venture. Welcome to the world of Galgos Greyhound Crossroads!!
The first 2 GC dogs will arrive on April 11, 2016 . They have already scheduled another one to come in on transport May 2, 2016. we know we can't save them all, but we can change the life of a few at a time. That is what matters.

Our first trip of the year will be in April. Stay tuned with lots of exciting news. Plus lots of pictures.

SNA will be attending the GPA Nashville event this weekend on the 21st. Come meet the galgos there. We will have Sofia, Virginia , Codie and Betina . Come say hello if your in the area.

Everyone have a great week and hope to see you all soon!

SNA

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Galgos in Gettysburg

4/26/2015

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We launched our first event of 2015 this weekend in Gettysburg and had a wonderful time! First I have to give a gigantic shout out to Nittany Greyhounds, the organization who puts this whole enormous event together and makes it look easy. (Hint: it's not.)

Second shout out to the entire greyhound adoption community, a loosely bound cult of worshipers who are more and more welcoming of their pups' foreign cousins. For the third year (that I've been keeping track) we've received a warm welcome and our booth was heavily attended the whole weekend. I have to admit that we cheated by setting up quite the large "candy box", otherwise known as an x-pen full of beautiful galgos. We had in attendance:

Diane's galgos: Duke (big black handsome boy), Seve (darling little fawn boy), and Estrella (strikingly beautiful bi-color eye female)

Debbie's galgos: Isabella (princess with one ear in a permanent salute), Sofia Loren (pale fawn beauty)

Venita's newest galgo: Cobie (long-haired fawn beauty named after our beloved Cobie who runs the Residencia)

Debbie's two foster galgos: Lynn (cute black little girl) and Canelo (sweet fawn pixie boy)

And just to give people a cheat in the "what's the difference between a greyhound and a galgo" pop quiz, I added my babies Ajax and Capri. The differences were obvious: greyhounds were in muzzles (insurance that was not ultimately necessary but it pays to be cautious) and also asleep 95% of the time! Interestingly, while we joke with people about the galgos only speaking Spanish, there was no apparent language barrier between the American greyhounds and the Spanish galgos. They seemed to have known each other forever and got along like littermates. The last picture below is Canelo using Ajax as a pillow. Even my normally snarky Capri was calm and quiet as the galgos walked over and around her all day.

We also had a good weekend financially, bringing in many donations, sold a fair amount of merchandise to benefit our mission, and had some generous benefactors bring us very special things to auction or raffle in a later event. (No spoilers, you have to come to the events to see what they are and have a chance to bid or buy tickets, but I can tell you guys they are NICE, nice things!) Oh, and best of all, because of all the interest in the dogs, we may be getting as many adoption applications in as we sent brochures out! It just could NOT get any better! Thank you to everyone who came, saw, donated, purchased, chatted and loved on our babies!

- Sharon

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Nightmare Scenario: I lost my dog!

2/21/2015

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We all share this nightmare. Some of us have experienced it. I experienced it a couple of years ago when a friend lost her dog. It wasn't my dog and it still totally freaked me out and I felt so sad and horrified. We never found him, and my overly vivid imagination has created for me some nasty explanations for what became of him. You see, he was a spooky dog, afraid of strangers and loud noises. The only way he could have been caught was by being cornered or trapped, and since he was so afraid of strangers, the people who caught him likely wouldn't have wanted to keep him. Oh, and he was a large black dog. A perfect storm of misfortune. So where did he go? We never found a trace in the two-county area we searched. I still want to cry even just writing this, and he wasn't my baby.

While we and our army of volunteers were out searching and posting flyers, I kept wishing desperately that I could pull up Google maps and locate him electronically. At least to have a rough idea of where to look. We had nothing.

After that experience, I did some research and found Tagg Pet Tracker. I bought two trackers plus the docking/recharging station. The trackers are a bit expensive, but you can get a $10 discount by using our new coupon code. If you buy with our coupon code, Scooby North America will also receive a $25 donation from Tagg! Okay, that's the commercial, now let me give you my experience with the product.

I have lazy and friendly greyhounds, so I haven't had a chance to really test my trackers thoroughly with them. The few times they've gotten out, they merely walked calmly around my neighbor's houses sniffing things, and they either come when I call them or they continue to sniff stuff while I calmly walk up and grab their collars.

But when I fostered a galgo named Kingsley for SNA last summer, we had an occasion to test out the Tagg Tracker. I put Capri's tracker on him the instant I brought him home. She's not a runner so I felt okay letting her go un-tracked for a while, but he was new and fearful and I did NOT want to lose a foster dog! We soon found that Kingsley was thunderphobic, he would cram himself between the toilet and the tub in our upstairs bathroom at the smallest rumble outside. And we have pretty good thunderstorms during the summer here in Virginia.

One evening after a thunderstorm had passed through, it was time for the dogs to go out and pee before bedtime. Kingsley had missed the evening walk because he was hiding in fear in the bathroom, so he NEEDED to pee. My husband took him out into our fenced yard on leash because we have a 4-foot fence and didn't want him to jump it and get lost. But Kingsley didn't like to poo right there in front of us, and had a habit of going under our bushes, which would tangle up the leash. Kingsley went under the bushes and Dave dropped his leash thinking he would be fine. Kingsley didn't come out. (I was actually livid because Kingsley was still feeling terrorized from the thunder and I felt that Dave was insane to drop the leash in those circumstances. But first order of business was to get the dog, re-educating the husband had to come later.)

I forgot to mention it was a dark and rainy night. We couldn't find a dark-colored dog under the bushes. We got flashlights and searched all around the yard, calling him sweetly, looking for movement or glowing eyes, listening for a rustle of an animal in the bushes.... nothing. Dave checked the Tracker location, which said Kingsley was still within our home zone. He felt that the tracker was useless because it wasn't telling us where the dog was. I searched our neighbors yards and then I checked the tracker report. Yes, it said he was still in our home zone, and his tracker was still in power saver mode. (When in the home zone, the trackers stay in power saver mode to maintain battery life.) I realized this was actually informative and helpful. It meant that Kingsley was in fact still in our yard. Otherwise his tracker would not be in power saver mode!

I walked around the outer perimeter of our yard calling to him, and then I saw him race out of the bushes to the other side of the yard to hide in the bushes over there. I had flushed him like a bunny, and he was hiding from us in the safety of the bushes. After a little coordination with Dave, we managed to gently corner him and catch him. We reassured him that everything was okay and he was safe, and all went inside to dry off.

Kingsley is now happy with his forever home, and Capri has her tracker on again. I'm a happy Tagg Tracker customer. I just wish I could turn back time and get a tracker on my friend's dog's collar so we could have saved him!

Click on the Tagg logo below or go to our Shop page for more information about how to buy Tagg for your babies!

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Under-Appreciated Heroes in the Galgo World

11/19/2014

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It’s been documented in American animal rescue work that the large majority of volunteers are women. It’s not surprising; we are passionate, opinionated, we tend to stand up for what is right. Throughout the history of women's liberation, we have fought for equality, not just for ourselves but for any other group that was oppressed like racial minorities, gay rights and animal rights. That trend continues at Scooby North America and the galgo rescue community in general where most of us are female.

It’s also not hard to notice that the majority of animal abuse in the world is committed by men, but I don’t know why. I suspect there is a correlation with the fact that it’s primarily men who commit human atrocities and why most despots and dictators in the world are men. Of course most men are not like that. But it does seem to be a minority of men who actually join the fight for animal welfare and I feel that they don’t get the recognition they deserve.

I don’t know about you, but when I meet these exceptional men, I can’t help but fall just a little bit in love with them. They carry their masculinity proudly into rescue work. Instead of appearing soft or feminine by showing compassion to animals, they look strong… and in my opinion, even a little sexy! These wonderful men who work in animal rescue are terrific role models for their sons. Especially in places with paternal social structures like Spain, changing the way animals are treated can’t be solved by women alone. We need these strong, wonderful men, and we need more of them.

Here are just a few of the men in the galgo rescue community who deserve recognition and thanks for their hard work, going against the statistics and being great role models. Join with me in this season of Giving Thanks to show appreciation and admiration to these good, strong men!

Scooby Staffer Dani taking a break from mucking stalls to cuddle up to a new foal.

Dani again, giving momma horse a little smooch also.

Travis Patenaude, founder and operator of Love, Hope, Believe Galgo Rescue in Chicago, Illinois. Travis takes a bit of quiet time to snuggle a new foster named Kahlessi. Photos like this are a treasure because many galgos have never known a gentle touch from a man. It takes a huge amount of trust for dogs like Kahlessi to overcome their fears and accept attention from men like Travis.

Dr. Guillermo Couto loving on a shy galgo. Dr. Couto not only volunteers at Scooby, he often takes his vet tech students to Scooby for several weeks of on-the-job training. Which means free veterinary care for the Scooby residents. If you've ever taken a pet to the vet you know what it costs. Dr. Couto's volunteerism is a priceless gift to the animals at Scooby!

Fermin accepts delivery of a new pup. His expression as he turns his back away from the galguero says everything you need to know.

Our own Fermin Perez enjoying a rare day off in between his full time teaching job and his other full time job running the shelter to enjoy the company of the animals.

I pulled this photo from the Scooby photo archives. I believe this man is an adopter rather than a volunteer but his expression is precious. This is a man who is not afraid to show love and compassion.

Say it with me....

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Some Early October Updates and New Available Dogs!

10/19/2014

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I've just added two new pups to the Available Dogs page - a couple of really pretty little galgas. Give me a few days to gather a few more details, but the photos and notes about their personalities are there. I've also added the logo and link for Greyhound Friends for Life to our Friends page. GFFL is one of our official adoption partners, helping us to get dogs adopted way over on the west coast. We also have a new affiliate partner called BringFido.com. That is a fantastic website that helps you locate and book pet-friendly travel accommodations, and they will generously send us a donation every time you book with our special referral code! Please check out the Friends page and visit all of our partners and friends!

On a personal note, I just got back from a week out of the country on vacation. No, I sadly didn't go to Spain, but Scooby wasn't far from my thoughts. I went to a resort in the gorgeous Turks and Caicos islands and surrounded myself yet again with people from all over the world. Doing so reminds me of how many good and kind people there are in the world and how, despite different languages and cultures, we humans are really not so different from each other. Laughter, kindness and joy are universal. I believe that it's through those aspects of our humanity that we can change animal welfare laws and practices everywhere. It might be as simple as reminding the people around you that it costs nothing to be kind - even to a dog! Anyone who volunteers to work in the shelter at Scooby has experienced this first hand: people who travel amazing distances, discarding national politics and cultural barriers, giving up their own precious time and money to join in the joyful experience of bringing happiness to hundreds of animals.

And of course I'm happy to be home especially for that moment when I arrived at granny's house to pick up my hounds and see their smiling faces, get my toes stomped on and wet noses in my face. Apparently absence makes the heart grow fonder for dogs also!

I have many ambitious ideas for the website and I hope you all are enjoying the site so far. Feel free to comment on any of my blog posts. We have moderation turned on just to keep out the spammers, but we definitely want to hear from all of our Scooby Supporters!

Love and hugs and wet noses,
Sharon

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Welcome to the Newly Redesigned Site!

10/9/2014

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The Scooby North America team is proud to relaunch our new website. We plan to use it to keep you better updated with our activities, fundraising needs, volunteer opportunities, and of course newly available dogs! This new site will grow over the next few months with new features, and we promise to update the content frequently so that you have a great reason to check back often.

We also want to announce that since we've grown so much over the last year, Scooby North America has spun off Scooby Canada as it's own exciting organization. Scooby Canada is our sister/partner organization and we will continue to work closely with our northerly neighbors and maintain a link to their site on our page navigation bar.

Please check back often to see what's new! We have lots of exciting stuff planned!

Sharon, Diane and the rest of the Scooby North America team!

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February News 2016

Galgos in Gettysburg

Nightmare Scenario: I lost my dog!

Under-Appreciated Heroes in the Galgo World

Some Early October Updates and New Available Dogs!

Welcome to the Newly Redesigned Site!

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February News 2016

Galgos in Gettysburg

Nightmare Scenario: I lost my dog!

Under-Appreciated Heroes in the Galgo World

Some Early October Updates and New Available Dogs!

Welcome to the Newly Redesigned Site!

Archives

Categories

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