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About Greyhound Friends of New Jersey
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Greyhound Friends of New Jersey is a direct descendent of Greyhound Friends of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, spawned by the adoption of a 3 1/2 year-old greyhound.
When Barbara & Al Wicklund of Somerset County, NJ, adopted "Champ" just before Thanksgiving 1987, they were immediately enchanted with the ex-racer. They wanted others in their area to learn the joys of living with a greyhound. Their offer to help Louise Coleman expand her Hopkinton, MA adoption program to the New Jersey area took on a life of its own.
An early appearance on a Long Island Cablevision Pet Show generated a storm of requests for information, and the Wicklund’s earliest adoptions were done in that area. For the first five years, they found homes for a few dogs, but before they knew it their territory had expanded and rescued dogs were being shuttled down from Massachusetts to new homes in southern New York, New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.
Greyhound Friends of NJ has mushroomed, and today requires the full-time attention of Barbara Wicklund and an active and dedicated corps of close to 100 volunteers throughout New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
Greyhounds still come to GFNJ from the Hopkinton kennel, directly from the New England tracks and, in times of crisis, from Florida, Georgia, Mexico or wherever greyhounds need help. GFNJ is an independent organization but still works cooperatively with the original Greyhound Friends of Massachusetts.
On arrival, all dogs are spayed or neutered, inoculated, heartworm tested and have their teeth cleaned prior to adoption. The minimum adoption donation in $200. Generally, dogs are taken to a boarding kennel until they are adopted. Some dogs cannot go into homes immediately, often because of broken legs suffered during racing or other temporary physical problems. They go to nurturing foster homes until they are ready for permanent families of their own.
Ours is a non-profit organization so we rely on funds generated through adoption, donations and fund-raising events throughout New Jersey. We hold three picnic-reunions a year (spring, summer and fall), a holiday boutique and craft show, and an annual "fun match" staged in conjunction with two other breed rescue organizations. Regular "Meet and Greets" are held on Saturdays or Sundays in many areas where potential adopters can go to spend time with greyhounds and asks lots of questions. But these are only a few of the events held so please see our "Events" for times and locations of all our programs.
To GFNJ, finding homes for ex-racing greyhounds is a labor of love. Today, that devotion finds homes for more than 250 greyhounds each year. The Greyhound Friends philosophy: Accept those greyhounds in need of a safety net, regardless of gender, size, color or age. There is a home out there for every one of them; it’s our job to find it.
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