Rainbow Bridge - UMR Grade (Grady)

We are sad to report the loss of another greyhound. We received notice from Rhonda Feihler that she lost her greyhound Grady last month. Rhonda (and her previous partner Robin) adopted Grady in 2007. Grady was a return to our group because the people who adopted him did not want to keep him when he started having seizures. Shortly after he came back, Rhonda and Robin contacted us when they saw him on our web site. These were the days before Craiger's List. At the time they lived in Ohio. But because they were seasoned and experienced greyhound adopters who adopted special needs greyhounds, we made arrangements for them to adopt Grady.

Grady was greatly loved by Rhonda and Robin and they were able to manage his seizures well. Rhonda took Grady with her when she moved from Ohio to New Jersey but she kept in contact with us throughout the years.

Grady did so well and had very few seizures. However, he had one last seizure last month and the vet reported that he most likely suffered brain damage from it because Grady was non-responsive. Rhonda sadly let Grady go. Grady would have been nine years old in July.

We are sad to hear of the loss of a beloved hound. However, we know that Grady had a wonderful home where he was greatly loved and cared for so well. Many greyhounds, especially those with special needs like Grady, never get that chance.

Run with the wind Grady until we all meet one day at the bridge.

Happy Birthday FFGR, Inc.!

Happy Birthday FFGR, Inc.! We are seven years old today! Thanks to our wonderful volunteers who are TEAM PLAYERS! Take a bow (wow)! Each dog we place takes countless hours of work on the part of many volunteers. Thank you all if you made a financial donation, thank those of you who opened your hearts and homes to give a greyhound a home, especially those willing to love a greyhound that was old or ill or behaviorally challenged. Thank you for donating items to our vending events. and/or for working our special events and many meet and greet events. Thank you home visitors, transporters, and especially fosterers. You are all angels!

Memorial - David "Kip" Koontz

June 1, 1963 to April 8, 2012

Our organization has lost a wonderful long time friend and volunteer. "Kip" Koontz died unexpectedly in his home April 8. We have known Kip as long as FFGR, Inc. has been in business. Kip and his spouse, J.D. came to us in the early days of our organization and adopted their first greyhound, Amelia, in early 2006. It was the beginning of a wonderful relationship that lasted through the years.

Kip and J.D. eventually adopted four greyhounds - Amelia, Fitzgerald, Brogan and Lili from our group. They spent many hours working at our meet and greet events and they helped out at numerous other events.

It was Kip who first came to us and suggested having a picnic to celebrate our hounds. For three years, Kip not only helped plan the picnics, but he was the auctioneer at our live auctions to raise money for our group. Everyone loved Kip's enthusiasm and great sense of humor. He was responsible for helping our organization raise thousands of dollars through our live auctions. Each year everyone was eager to get to the picnic to hear Kip as he made us all laugh and bid high.

For four years, Kip and J.D. organized neighborhood yard sales that also earned our organization funds. Each yard sale was fun and was more like a big neighborhood block party than a sale. He was able to channel his enthusiasm into making hard work fun and profitable.

What made Kip so unique was his unabridged love for his dogs. No one could ever say that Kip didn't love his greyhounds. They were the center of his universe. It was not uncommon to get a phone call from Kip sounding excited and happy about something one of his dogs learned to do or something funny one did. We knew that any phone call from Kip meant that he had something nice to say about his dogs.

When Amelia died unexpectedly during a dental, Kip was inconsolable. And the loss of Fitzgerald to cancer was just as devastating to him.

In recent years job changes and illness made it hard for Kip and J.D. to volunteer as often but they never lost interest in our group throughout all of their ordeals. They always were willing to help out.

Kip will be greatly missed by all of us who knew and loved him. He was a large part of our organization and his loss will leave a hole that will never be filled.

Rest in peace dear friend until we all meet one day at the bridge.

Thanks to NEAR!

We'd like to thank the New England Airedale Rescue, located in Cornwall Bridge, CT, for their generous donation of items to sell at our upcoming vending events. We appreciate the generosity and the support of this wonderful rescue organization. ROOOOOS to you all!

April - Adopt A Greyhound Month!

BIG NEWS! Did you know that April is Adopt a Greyhound Month? Not only that, but we at Fast Friends Greyhound Rescue, Inc. will be celebrating our seventh birthday! Thanks to the very hard work of our dedicated volunteers, our group has placed over 435 greyhounds into their forever homes. Our group does not focus on numbers but on quality of adoptions. That is why our return rate remains low. We are proud of our record because we are located in a more rural and less populated area where we need to travel to do our work and reach out to potential adopters. In our seven years, we have received an award from the SPCA International as well as from Greythound Guardians for the work we do to find homes for dogs that are less adoptable.

In our seven years, we have consistently tried to focus on giving all greyhounds a chance at a forever home. We take in all greyhounds no matter what the problem. We reach out to other groups to help find homes for the harder to place greyhounds. We believe in giving every greyhound a chance at a forever home and find many adopters who also understand the value in each and every dog.

Therefore, during the month of April, we will be offering a number of incentives for adopting a greyhound. The adoption fee will be waived for any Craiger's List dog during the month to a QUALIFIED adopter. However, our group will make a donation in the adopter's honor to the Morris Animal Foundation for cancer research. We will offer reduced adoption fees to adopters who have adopted a greyhound from our group previously. We will also offer a special "goody" bag to first time adopters in addition to the many free items we supply.

If you are interested in adopting a greyhound, please visit our web site and read about the greyhound breed. If you feel that a greyhound is the type of dog that you would like to adopt, then submit your application.