Greyhound & Lurcher Rescue Stories – Furever Homed Pheby

On a cold day in February this year a very scared and underweight female hound arrived  late in the day at our rescue. She had travelled thousands of miles, being part of the worldwide operation to save greyhounds from the notorious Canidrome in Macau. This establishment was in effect a death sentence for thousands of greyhounds who, if not placed in the top three in five successive races, were killed. With no rehoming scheme in place the only way out of there was certain death. Many years of campaigning saw the Canidrome close with homes found for over 500 greyhounds all over the world.

Fire had spent her days in solitary confinement in a concrete cell, with no interaction or stimulation, not even a bed and certainly no toys.

On the 16th February trustees Siobhan and Sue travelled to Heathrow to collect Fire. They remember being overwhelmed at the first sight of this vulnerable little hound who was to come into their care. Fire had arrived in the UK on a special anniversary, it was a year since Siobhan’s mum had sadly passed away and with Pheby being Siobhan’s maiden name it was decided that this girl needed a special name, Pheby.

Pheby adjusted slowly to life in kennels, when out on walks she looked around in amazement, enjoying new experiences and taking everything in for the first time. Siobhan recalls she especially liked the feeling of walking on grass. Pheby soon learnt to play with toys and had to adjust to cooler weather too. She took great pride in any toys given to her and treated them as prized possessions, lining them up protectively by her side in her kennel.

As part of her rehabilitation process Pheby was taken to volunteers’ houses for short sleepovers. One of our trusted volunteers – Julia – took Pheby for a few days earlier this Summer for a ‘fostering holiday’ but you know where this is leading, yes she has now joined the ‘failed fosterers club’! Pheby was adopted at the beginning of August and remains in the local area.

Julia says Pheby loves sofa surfing, wriggling about on the grass on her back, enjoying roast dinners and river walks. She also has other greyhounds friends and regularly meets up with another Canidrome survivor - Emily -  now enjoying the good times together.

Pheby is certainly making up for lost time and this sweet girl from Macau now has the home and future that she so deserves.