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| finding homes for unwanted Irish racing greyhounds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kerry Greyhound Connection Events | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Here is Blue sharing her dinner with a cat on her second day in her forever home |
Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th October, 2011 - Pet Expo 2011 at the RDS, Dublin KGC Ireland were once again at the Pet Expo in Dublin. This year it took place on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th October.
Recent kennel arrivals Seymour and Macey were selected to work their charm on the crowds, and arrived in Dublin with Amanda on Thursday night. They were exemplary during their stay for the first time in their young lives in a home, and despite the noise, huge numbers of people and strange and loud sounds they were well behaved and friendly towards all their admirers.
One thing we noticed with great pleasure was the increased number of greyhounds and lurchers bringing their owners to Pet Expo. We recognised a good number of KGC hounds, but were heartened that many more Irish people are clearly discovering the joys of havning a greyhound or lurcher companion. We'd all like to thank all of our generous supporters at Pet Expo who made donations and bought our merchandise for their generous contributions and all who stopped by to lend their moral support and encouragement for our work. We've already made our booking for next year's Expo - see you all at the RDS in 2012! Saturday
24th September 2011 - Meet & Greet at "Pets at Home" in Bangor,
Co. Down Sunday 7th August 2011 - "Gig for the Greys" at Kate Kearney's Cottage, The Gap of Dunloe, Co. Kerry  On Sunday 7th August we had the "Gig for the Greys" at Kate Kearney's Cottage in the Gap of Dunloe. Senator Marie Moloney came with her family to open the event, which kicked-off at 2pm, with the weather generally good and holding up. There was an excellent live music performance from "Bugsy & Eddie", who played a wide variety of music to set the feet a-tapping, delicious barbecue food was available, there was face painting by Kerrie O' Callaghan to keep the younger guests (and some of the older ones) amused and a raffle was held, with lots of excellent prizes on offer, many of which had been very kindly donated by local businesses including local artists paintings, restaurant vouchers and beautician vouchers. Many Greyhound owners turned up with their dogs ( or maybe that should be "many Greyhounds turned up with their people..) and the calm, and friendly way all the dogs behaved showed a really great example of what lovely companions Greyhounds are. Kate Kearney's Cottage offered us the 'barn' inside the pub so we made use of the space and presented KGC's information, merchandize and our lovely raffle prizes to the public to raise awareness that greyhounds make wonderful pets. We raised a fantastic 1,200 Euros for Kerry Greyhound Connection. a huge THANK YOU goes out to all our volunteers who worked so hard in selling tickets for the gig, and an equally huge THANK YOU to the local businesses that donated such wonderful raffle prizes, to Kate Kearney's Cottage for having us on the day, and to Bugsy & Eddie for playing the music that made the afternoon go with such a swing! Here's to 'Gig for the Greys 2012'!!!
Sunday 26th June 2011 - Greyhound Scrub-a-dub, Killarney, Co. Kerry Well what a great day of pamperig it was for the hounds kennelled in Beaufort! Sarah and Clare collected 10 hounds for the start of their pampering day in the morning, and took them to Clare's. Before long, 13 volunteers had also arrived to help with the bahig of the hounds. It was also a perfect opportunity to see how the dogs would react with all kinds of people, some other dogs and also children. The dogs had a lovely
bath each, a gallop or two around Clare's huge garden and got all the
attention they needed. The dogs had good food and plenty to drink in
exchange for a bath, worming and de-fleaing. Us mere humans made do
with sandwiches and cake and an endless supply of squash, tea and
coffee. But all the food was spot on Clare! Thanks to all the trusty volunteers who got everything wet to help on the day. From looking at the photographs you can tell that a good time was had by all.
A big thankyou to Clare
and Bernard for being amazing hosts and Bernard, your lemon drizzle
cake was AMAZING and should make the history books! On the trip back to the
kennels, the van was very quiet. Once the hounds were back John and
Issy greeted the hounds with fresh bedding and new duvets to snuggle up
in. Goldfish bypassed his food and headed straight to his bed and fell
asleep a happy boy, as did the rest of the hounds. A greyt day had by all. Thanks again to everyone who dedicated their own time on a lovely Sunday to help the hounds. Friday 10th - Sunday 12th June 2011 - Annual KGC Jamboree, Muckross, Killarney, Co. KerryOn the evening of Thursday 9th and the morning of Friday 10th people started arriving at Wests Caravan Park, just outside Killorglin in County Kerry, from far and wide. People from all over Ireland, as well as from the UK and Europe gathered in readiness for the Jamboree. A special "Thank-you" for Isa who came from Belgium and brought 820 Euros in sponsorship and donations that she'd raised! . It was a chance for friends to meet up again and new friendships to be made. On Saturday, at Wests, there was a mid-morning veggie hot-dog brunch, which was delicious. People, as well as the more enterprising hounds, enjoyed the breakfast before getting ready to head for Muckross House for the main event, a walk around the Killarney National Park
Later that morning people and their Greyhounds started arriving in the grounds of Muckross House in Killarney. We had a great turnout and stopped for a "Rogues Gallery" photo or two before setting out. While we were waiting to set out, we had many tourists and visitors who approached us with questions about the dogs, what we were doing and why.
The weather was great for the walk. Both dogs and their walkers had a great time, and met and spoke with more people during the walk.
On the way, some of the dogs decided to go for a paddle in the water, but of course some decided they'd go one better and cool themselves off IN the water...
A great time was had by one and all. At the end of the walk some of the dogs decided it had all been a bit much and they needed to rest for a while...
..as did some of the people.....
All in all it was a great and very successful event. The hounds (and honorary hounds on the day) were wonderfully behaved, and were "greyt" diplomats and ambassadors for the cause of Greyhound welfare and rehoming, meeting and greeting the public and showing people what fantastic companions Greyhounds are. After the walk, the dogs were taken back to the kennels in Beaufort and people went their own way. Many were still staying at Wests for the Saturday night and so met up later too. Later on, there was a bit of a "gathering" at Kate Kearney's Cottage near the Gap of Dunloe. There were a few drinks, and some impromptu fundraising in the form of selling NewsLetters to the people in the bar, netting an unexpected 104 Euros! Well done to all involved! On Sunday it was time for everybody to pack up. Farewells were said and people made ready to head back home. It was a memorable weekend and we can't wait for next year's Jamboree!! A big, big "Thank-you" to everyone who came along and made the Jamboree 2011 such a memorable weekend.. |
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Kerry Greyhound Connection operates through a network of volunteers to rehome greyhounds in Ireland, the UK and Europe |
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