Kansas City Retired Greyhounds as Pets

Greyhounds are notoriously over bred to support the racing industry. According to industry breeding reports published in The Greyhound Review, there were 77,852 litters registered by the National Greyhound Association between 1989 and 2000. Multiplied by a conservative average of 6.52 pups per litter, the result shows that more than 507,596 greyhounds were born curing that twelve-year period. Their lives are difficult from the outset. In order to track the dogs for racing, greyhound puppies are tattooed by three months of age and are individually registered by 18 months. Of those born, only 78% of those puppies were individually registered during the same twelve-year period. Because very few are ever found wandering, the 22% not registered are presumed dead. On average, a revolving baseline of 1,000 dogs is needed to sustain a racetrack operation. In 2000, approximately 26,500 greyhounds entered the racing system, and an equal or greater number of greyhounds, aged between 2 and 5 years old, exited the system. Approximately 13,000 dogs were retired to rescue groups for adoption, leaving approximately 13,500 unaccounted for. This sport has conservatively claimed the lives of more than 1,000,000 greyhounds in its 75-year U.S. history. KCREGAP is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization. KCREGAP is dedicated to finding loving homes for retired greyhounds. Since its inception, 4000 greys have been adopted into loving homes in the KC Metro area and beyond. The reality is that, because of poor track standards, many beautiful greyhounds come to us with health issues requiring veterinary attention. The adoption fee charged by KCREGAP does not cover the actual costs incurred in treating these dogs. Costs often climb into the thousands of dollars.