Oh! Freddie Fly’

Having moved from the south in November 2002 we sat down to read what was now going to be our local newspaper. A small box advert jumped out from the pages of the Press and Journal -–'‘greyhounds/Lurchers needing good homes…’

Having firmly established that we were not getting another rescue greyhound until September 2003 – why was this advertisement having such pulling power? After all this was only January!

Within 48hrs we had received the information package from GAGAH and only a few days later Diane was sat at our table discussing with us the possibilities of adopting a greyhound.

Mid Feb arrived and so did 36kilo Freddie who was then only 19mths and already labelled ‘no good’ for racing. ‘Oh! Freddie Fly’ as Diane had affectionately nicknamed him, clearly did not.

Having been routinely castrated whilst in the care of GAGAH, Freddie arrived with us early March to become part of our family and most importantly a companion for our other rescue greyhound – 8.5yr old Bruce.

Having been only used to a kennel, the house became an Alladins Cave for Freddie, particularly the Kitchen. I am quite sure he thought ‘No’ was his middle name. Within a couple of weeks we were able to notice just how quickly he was adopting to our house rules. We are truly amazed how clean Freddie is and to-date, has never had an accident.

Freddie is after all only a baby and like most youngsters craves human attention – I know it sounds like an old cliché but what we put into his life he repays us a thousand times over.

Some people may say (and have said) that Freddie has fallen well on his feet and perhaps (knowing the fate of other ex-racers) this is true. But to see him totally unthreatened and content to curl up in front of the fire with Bruce, having had a good walk and his feed is more rewarding than winning the lottery could ever be to us.

We would like to sincerely thank GAGAH and all it’s volunteers for the wonderful work you have done and continue to do for the sake of these truly amazing animals – God Bless you all!

Lorraine, Ian, Bruce & Freddie