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Maine Greyhound Placement Service
Adoption Center
249 Old Belgrade Rd.
Augusta, ME 04330
Phone: 207-626-2893 Fax: 207-626-2835
or email Scott Bruns at
greyhoundplacement@verizon.net
LETTER
RECEIVED AT MGPS
Another Lesson On
RETRACTABLE LEASHES
Dear Scott,
I was glad to see your warning article about retractable leashes in the last
Greyhound Express (Fall ’06) – and I am extremely happy that Necco’s terrifying
experience ended well. However, you did not mention one additional and extreme
danger in using retractable leashes on sighthounds. I learned the hard way.
I had used them for a good five years on my two Greyhounds and a Shepard. When
walking multiple dogs, it seemed that retractables were less likely to tangle.
Then, one November day, for a reason known only to herself, my beloved Grey,
“Laurie”, decided to take off. I braced myself and held. After a ten-minute
struggle, I finally managed to get Laurie back to my car. When I arrived home
five minutes later, Laurie was totally paralyzed. The paralysis, we later
learned, was caused by her coming to such an abrupt halt as she reached the end
of the 26-foot retractable leash.
We rushed her to the Vet who examined and x-rayed her. He supplied us with
heavy-duty steroids and warned us that the chances of her pulling through were
very remote. For the next 3 months she slept beside my bed. I held her head up
to give her water every ½ hour and never left her side. Luckily, I had just
retired! Finally the day came that she was able to stagger around the house, and
then the yard. Eventually she recovered almost completely. She was never able to
run again and couldn’t hop up on my bed, but she did have seven more quality
years as the light of my life.
In a back issue of the magazine, ‘Celebrating Greyhounds’, I saw a copy
of a Greyhound adoption contract. It included a statement that the new owner
would never use a retractable leash on a Greyhound. If you have not already done
so, you may want to consider adding that to your current contract.
Earlier this month as I was driving through Kittery I saw a magnificent brindle
Greyhound being walked on a retractable leash. I couldn’t stop due to heavy
traffic but I have been looking ever since for a chance to sternly warn the
owner. No luck thus far.
You have my admiration for your wonderful work. Best wishes to you always!
Sincerely,
Gini Brown
Eliot, Maine
10/11/06 |
