Kennels

Lindasdogs · GAL Convenor * Homing Co-ordinator * Forum Moderator

Kennels

tootsmazza · Enlightened One

I am sure this was an emotional decision for all involved and would like to add my thanks to Rachel and Eddie for their wonderful support to GAL and, of course, for Mason who they cared for after he bounced and very graciously handed over to me with lots of good advice.
I will never forget taking him for his first walk at their kennels with Rachel and going to collect him two weeks later to bring home.
I hope they remain closely involved with GAL and the dogs and wish them every success in the future.
Marie

cavalry · Rookie

I have never been a member of the GAL forum and probably will not post again but in the light of recent events Rachel and I would like to post the following.

We have no problem with the Gal dogs moving to another facility,we are both touched and saddened by recent posts and events,this has been an extremely difficult and painful time for us,we ourselves have always had the dogs best interests and welfare at heart,if by moving the dogs to new surroundings improves their quality of life both mentally and physically then it is for the best.Anything that brings a forever home closer to even one dog is a must.We ourselves have always had one eye on properties and kennels for sale in the hope that GAL could find their forever home,not too long ago we went to look at a friends kennels that were for sale purely with GAL in mind.Three years ago we were approached by Gal founder Denise who asked if we would reconsider a return to the Borders as GAL's aim was to have it's own kennel and she invited us to run it,such is our devotian to the dogs cause that we did not hesitate to say yes.Time moves on and as it does things change,people change and situations change,change as we all know is never easy, for us the many changes of personnel within GAL has led to some difficulties,nothing too serious of course but dialouge has been sadly lacking at times,and we often felt we were out in the wilderness and in a them and us situation but we were always happy to be here 24/7 365 days a year and on the whole things have not been too bad,now of course things have become difficult,we were completely unaware of what was about to take place on Saturday morning,we were told to expect two committee members to collect two dogs going to foster homes,three other people were coming to collect equipment for the rodeo,I called Rachel to say that people had arrived,Rachel at this point was tending to Maggie our dying GAL greyhound,she went outside to see all of the GAL committee bar one person,after discussions about Gal shop stock and a few other things she was told a meeting was required I at this point was serving customers she was then informed that our employment with Gal was being terminated and the dogs were being removed forthwith,she then came in in front of a customer to tell me the dogs were being removed, that shocked me as we had no idea this was coming,Rachel has said that she was in shock but remained posotive as she was thinking of the dogs,I on the other hand was angry and upset,the timing was awful,given that they new they were going to do this and did not inform us beggars belief,Rachel feels that certain individuals do not like the fact that she is a strong carachter with a tendency to let it be known when she is not happy because she thinks dogs are not getting what they should,and that she should have no opinions or friendships within like minded organisations,her response to that is as follows. No single individual has the right to tell any one who they can or cannot associate with I have various contacts in many walks of life and have gone out of my way to promote GAL and it's dogs,my experience in many things to do with dogs has always been freely available as I just can't say no,I will champion the cause of Greyhounds to my dying day,as I said before the split is amicable and we both wish the beautiful dogs many happy years of life on their own forever sofa,the way in which we were disposed of was very badly handled,lacked sensitivity given all the that was happening to us at the time,we are ever grateful for the employment and the immense job satisfaction we hope that lessons can be learned from this and if a similiar situation should arise with anyone in the future please show some decency and give them the oppertunity to seek alternative employment.Lack of common courtesy does not make for good relationships,and we want to help dogs regardless of which oranisation cares for them,but badly handled situations such as this has caused somewhat extreme reactions for which we are sorry about but they are not of our doing,we have moved on,please can everyone else.Eddie and Rachel.

Beauty William · Old Hand

Hi Linda
I feel very uneasy about all of this and I'm sure I'm not alone. You talk in your second paragraph about the dogs' time in kennels being critical to their well-being, yet in your third paragraph talk about the new Boarding Kennels in a very business-like fashion. I am certainly no dog expert, but know that Greyhounds are a very special breed in terms of their sensitivities and require more than clean, heated kennels.

Something which really puzzles me is why this decision had to be taken at such short notice - and apparently without warning to Rachel and Eddie. I have to say I was both shocked and surprised when I learned about this and it does seem at odds with the third paragraph where you say that GAL can never say enough to thank Eddie and Rachel for all their hard work.

In view of comments of others, I am not at all sure what GAL's policies are as a Rescue Charity, so perhaps instead of me posing a number of questions, you could put out a general, but reasonably detailed statement on the forum.

Denise

Lindasdogs · GAL Convenor * Homing Co-ordinator * Forum Moderator

Hi Denise,

I thank you for your posting. The committee certainly does not want to cause confusion or unease amoung its volunteers! GAL is a rescue charity and has a committee of 6 volunteers that each bring to the table different views/opinions on how best to run GAL The statement I made came from the letter that was sent out to all this week. It was written by all of us.

You are right that Greyhounds need more than clean, heated kennels - they need to be out- at events - to be seen, cuddled and socialization. We have a few greyhounds that have been unlucky to have not been socialized and don't like other dogs so they will be difficult to re-home. So the closer the dogs are to events to be out we felt the better. As homing coordinator I know how much each greyhound needs a forever home. I would like to see their days in any kennel to be as short as possible however, riight now it does take a few months to home a dog. The longer a dog is in kennels, can sometimes make it more difficult to re-home. Re-homing of the dogs have become the main focus for us and we are committed to try and shorten the number of months that any dog has to wait for a home. And this is hard when we must make sure we have the right home for the right dog.

The people who we will be dealing with at the new kennels are wonderful friendly people, just like Eddie & Rachel have been. They are also dedicated to ensuring the well-being of GAL's dogs and have worked with another dog rescue group before. So they do understand many of the things that occur in a rescue charity. We understand that it will take time for everyone to develope the relationship that they had with Eddie & Rachel with the new family thus perhaps why it sounded so very business-like.

I think that if there is confusion - then the policies of GAL as a Rescue Charity should be posted. I believed at one time the Constitution - which states our policies was out on the web. I will look into it and we will post a general detailed statement on the forum

I appreciate postings like yours Denise, as you state what your concerns are and what you wish to hear back. It is important that we communicate to each other. I hope that over the next few days we can discuss the concerns and from there continue the work of GAL - rescuing and rehoming greyhounds & lurchers.
Thanks,
Linda