An update on the foster greyhound. We've now discovered her race history, pedigree and birth data. She'll be four next month. I'm not going to print her race name but she has done an amazing 67 races in England. Unfortunately, she is part of a pattern we see very frequently. English dogs are registered and raced on English tracks until either injury intervenes or simply ceasing to do well. At this point, depending on who you talk to, several things can happen. What should happen (and sometimes, happily, does) is the dog is placed in a new home via either the Retired Greyhound Trust or one of the many other rescue organisations. Other routes are less pleasant and probably best not outlined here (there is lots of info available for those who wish to look) but the one that affects us most in Wales is that many English dogs travel west along the M4 and after a career on the registered tracks begin a shorter, more dangerous life on the unregistered "flapping" tracks here in Wales. These dogs can be bought very cheaply and have the initial advantage of their form not being known on the Welsh tracks, so there is a steady demand. However, the economics of racing in Wales mean that if a dog then has an injury or simply does not do well, then its future looks very bleak indeed. Again, a small fortunate few get passed on to rescue organisations (such as Andy) and bitches may have a second career in breeding, but generally they are disposed of, as cheaply as possible. Hence, her abandonment. Her racing past makes her physical condition more understandable. Our priority now is to ensure she has the retirement she deserves, in the best possible forever home, while working at the bigger issues to improve greyhound welfare.

It appears that my blog has a new, anonymous follower. Whoever you are, you are welcome, but I am disappointed that you feel the need for such secrecy. Most of my blog readers are known to me, either as friends, family members or former colleagues, plus the growing band of friends made across the blogosphere. Because in general, the blogs I follow tend to be personal ones, and as this is very much a personal blog, I'd like to invite you (whoever you are!) to email me to let me know - if you need to have your identity kept secret, I can do that. If I don't hear from you within a week, then I will block you as a follower. At the moment, there is just something downright creepy about it - though I'm hoping that's not your intention. Through my Stat Counter, I already have a very good picture of the users of my blog in general terms - it's fascinating to see where visitors come from, the search terms used, and the ISPs used. A regular source of visitors is blogger play, the wonderful website that displays an ever-changing slideshow of blog pics and one of my all time favourites. Also, since I've been on Twitter, that too has brought a fresh supply of new faces.