I’d be gutted too, EM, even if it were just that they were taken by someone who loved them for themselves… you’d never know, would you? How awful it would be. Our first greyhound was abandoned by travellers and ended up in Wood Green, thin, mangy and scarred. I lived in fear that they’d pass through this area, see what a nice dog he’d grown into and take him back.

There are still a lot of good people in the world, and I believe they do outnumber the bad, but sometimes it can be hard to remember. We should look for the good more, I think.

June: Me too! My favourite churchyard in the world contains the grave of Peter the Wild Boy. Fuelled our imaginations as kids, I can tell you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_the_Wild_Boy

Susan: NO! Tell us more…

Jay: Well I think he’s beautiful!! But once they got him home, found that he’d stolen one of every pair of shoes they own and lovingly hidden it somewhere - they’d soon bring him back. God, the amount of times I hop around in one shoe cursing the arse off him!! Oh, and the fact that he has absolutely no recall and if he’s let off the lead he runs straight until he literally bumps into something might make lamping a little difficult hee hee. But I do get your point. I’m sure it happens. God, I’d be gutted *shivers* xxxx

EM -
“And honestly, do you think people bother to nick greyhounds? Especially an enormous lanky one with bald blue skin and great chunks out of his fur!”

Sadly, it’s not unknown over this side of the Irish Sea. They’re greatly in demand by a certain section of the population for lamping and I’ve heard tales of people having their ‘longdogs’ taken off them by force, or by stealth. So much so, that in some areas the rescues advise you never to walk your dog alone or advertise a ‘greyhound walk’ on the internet.

And Bertie is beautiful!