News & Information
2013 North American Greyhound Conference Wraps Up
2014 Conference in Pittsburgh Planning Under Way
GPA extends our thanks to Greyhound Pets of America, Emerald Coast Chapter, for the success of this year's Conference. Two new National Officers were elected: Susy Durso, of GPA/Three Rivers, is the new Executive Secretary, and Linda Dantagnan, of GPA/Louisiana & Mississippi, the new Corresponding Secretary.
The 2014 Conference will be hosted by our GPA/Three Rivers Chapter in Pittsburgh on June 20th - 22nd. More will information will be posted on that event as the time draws near.
The Greyhounds still need your help. You may still join GPA National and your entire membership donation will help the hounds in numerous ways-from assisting the many Greyhounds who are either still awaiting transport from tracks to adoption groups, or who are in need of major medical assistance from our Emily Griffin Injury Fund (this Fund assists individual Chapters by defraying costs of Greyhounds who are sick, or needing surgical procedures for racing injuries before they can be available for adoption); or your donaton may even come to the aid of Greyhounds when disasters such as Hurricane Katrina have left them completely without food and shelter. There are three levels, or "tiers" to join and take an active part in helping Greyhounds on their journeys to forever homes. Donation levels are broken down as follows:
Bronze - $25 to $49
Silver - $50 to $100
Gold - $100 and up
In addition to the above, GPA National Grant Programs also provide funding for many special projects such as purchasing trailers or vans, or for capital improvements such as repairs to kennels, purchasing crates, fencing, upgrading electrical needs, HVAC needs or helping a chapter with expenses to send a delegate to the annual national meeting, etc.
If you would like to join and take a proactive role in helping GPA meet its many financial needs, your Membership payment can be made through paypal here on the website OR you may download and print this GPA Donation Form and mail it along with your check or money order to the address listed on the form.
To make a general donation or submit a Membership donation, click the PayPal button below:
(Please make sure to fill in the "instructions to seller" box with specifics of your transaction. Thank you!)
Featured Chapter
GPA/EMERALD COAST
www.gpaec.com
GPA/Emerald Coast
PO Box 64
Gonzalez, FL 32560-9998
Phone: (888) 216-7236
Greyhound Pets of America, Emerald Coast has been chosen as our current featured Chapter, and Lynn Hughes has offered the following information on their group:
Formed in 1998 as Emerald Coast Greyhound Adoption Program, GPA Emerald Coast is located in Pensacola Fl. Since becoming a GPA Chapter in 1999, we have placed over 3883 greyhounds either locally or by hauling them to other adoption groups all over the US and Canada. From the beginning we realized we had to move dogs to non-racing states as there were not enough local homes for the Pensacola track retirees.
In 2003 we joined forces with Valentine Greyhound Adoption who had been placing dogs from the Ebro Track even prior to ECGAP. This extended our adoption area across the Florida Panhandle to Panama City, Fl. That is the year we purchased our van, thanks to the generous grants we received from the American Greyhound Council, GPA National and Petsmart.—our responsibilities had doubled when we added the 2nd track. We are the only chapter that we know of that has two tracks from which we have to place greyhounds so we really began to get serious about placing and moving dogs.
In 2004, the year that hurricane Ivan hit the Pensacola area, we placed 400 dogs - 300 hauled/100 local adoptions. That was our highest total ever until last year when we surpassed all expectations and goals placing 916 greyhounds from both the Pensacola Greyhound Track and Ebro Greyhound Park. Unfortunately, our success last year was due in part to a starvation situation at the Ebro track that received national attention. It brought into focus the overwhelming number of greyhounds that need placement in the Florida Panhandle and in turn, many greyhounds found forever homes due to the tragedy.
With the focus primarily turning to transporting greyhounds, our expenses have soared. Every year we have our annual fundraiser "Hound Dog Howliday" which helps raise money toward our operating costs. This past year it was held in Gulf Breeze, Fl with the theme being UFO's and aliens (Gulf Breeze is purported to be the alien capitol of the US) Next years event will have the theme of Mardi Gras giving you the feel that you just stepped out on Bourbon St in New Orleans!
For more information, please visit: GPA/EC or stop by their Facebook page
You can email the GPA/EC president at: gpaecinfo@gmail.com
For other GPA Chapter News and Events, click HERE.
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Mission Statement
The purpose of Greyhound Pets of America(GPA) is to find responsible loving homes for Greyhounds, to acquaint the public with the desirability of Greyhounds as pets, and to inform them of the availability of Greyhounds for adoption.
Greyhound Pets of America Greyhounds are primarily ex-athletes from various racetracks around the country. The breed is noted for being very gentle and non-confrontational. They are very adaptable upon adoption, and fit very well into all walks of life....
Congratulations!
Greyhound Pets of America would like to congratulate our GPA/Emerald Coast volunteer, Ann Bollens for being named Greyhound Adoption Person of the Year. Thank you, Ann, for all of your hard work and dedication to the greyhounds!
August 11, 2011
Greyhound News and Views
Greyhound Pets of America during the past year has been highlighting the work of individual chapters in finding homes for racing greyhounds on our website. Just recently we updated the website with information regarding the Emerald Coast chapter of GPA. During 2010, the exceptional work of the volunteers in the chapter helped place over 900 greyhounds from the Ebro and Pensacola chapters in homes. While many of the greyhounds went to homes in the area the Emerald Coast Chapter serves, the majority of these greyhounds were moved to chapters throughout the country which required the help of many more groups beyond the Emerald Coast Chapter of GPA. Shortly after updating the website we received an e-mail from Roger Spencer, the President of the chapter, describing the latest work in finding homes for the racing greyhounds from the Ebro, Pensacola, and Monticello tracks. We, at GPA, applaud the work being done by the Emerald Coast Chapter of GPA, Greyhound Alliance, and the Northern Consortium.
August 1, 2011
Three non-profit Greyhound adoption and support groups have formed the “Sunburst Greyhound Adoption Project and Kennel” in a unique and unprecedented effort to move large numbers of retired racing hounds from several Panhandle tracks to adoption groups throughout the country. The Project is a joint effort of The Greyhound Alliance, which will provide funding through the generous donations of its membership and fundraising projects; The Northern Consortium (NoCo), an organization of several adoption groups in the Great Lakes region which has moved more than 900 Panhandle greyhounds in the past; and the Emerald Coast Chapter of Greyhound Pets of America (GPAEC.com), the largest racing hound adoption organization in the nation. The NoCo and GPAEC will provide the human volunteers to prepare the dogs and arrange for transport to adoption groups in non-racing states. Ebro Greyhound Park has donated the kennel space to house greyhounds for the Sunburst Project Kennel, along with Ebro’s Pet Express Adoption Kennel. The Project will take in overflow pets from the pet kennels at Pensacola and Monticello as well as Ebro, on an “as needed” basis. More than 150 greyhounds will be available at any given time through the Sunburst Project, with that number expected to more than double with upcoming track seasonal closings in September and October. The Kennel will be a staging point to get the hounds processed through Panhandle area veterinarians including a physical exam, spays or neutering, vaccinations, and ready for transport. The project hopes to accept hundreds of retired racers from Florida Panhandle tracks at Ebro, Pensacola, and Monticello, and hopes to help dogs from other tracks on a space available basis. For more information about the Sunburst Greyhound Project and Kennel please contact:
Phone 708-334-7688
The Northern Consortium: Linda Cliffel;
Phone 813-468-8771
GPAEC: Ann Bollens, Executive Director;
Phone 850-380-5562
Roger Spencer;
Phone 850-200-8283
(Greyhound Pets of America was founded in 1987 to find homes for racing greyhounds when their racing careers were finished. Through the support of our volunteers and countless hours that they have given, GPA and its chapters have adopted over 80,000 greyhounds to homes throughout the country.)
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