The story behind a dog’s eyes

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of columns from Bulletin sports editor Joey Millwood about rescuing greyhounds.

Have you ever just looked into your dog’s eyes? Behind every set of those precious eyes is a story. Some stories are good and some are bad.

A lot of times you can just tell what kind of life they’ve had by looking at their sweet faces.

Not every dog has had the benefit of a good home since they were puppies. I thank God for those sweet, little dogs that end up in good homes and have nothing but good memories.

I have three dogs myself. My wife and I firmly believe in rescuing dogs. The idea of saving a life is very important to us. In a lot of cases, rescuing a dog is just that. Rescue.

All three of our dogs are rescues. We have a fawn-colored greyhound named Sadie, a black greyhound named Sabrina and a rowdy German Pincher named Brando.

Each pair of my dogs’eyes tell a different story. They’re all stories that I really wish I could erase from their memories.

Sometimes I watch my dogs while they are sleeping and I think about where they came from, especially my greyhounds.

Greyhounds are a different story from most dogs. I didn’t realize what kind of life these dogs lead until three years ago when I first met Sadie.

My wife knew about greyhound rescue long before I did. It was she who introduced me to the world of greyhound rescue. As is the stereotype, greyhounds are associated with the bus company and gambling.

One could not imagine the life these dogs lead. They’re trapped in a box that isn’t much bigger than they are for 22 out of 24 hours a day. In a lot of cases, they’re fed old meat.

Sadie was our first greyhound. She raced for a long time and evidence of how she was treated was all over her body.

She had scars, a tattoo on her ear to show who she was, and there were tattoos of newspaper stories on her stomach from where she slept on them in her crate. Do you know how long it would take to have a newspaper leave an imprint on your stomach? It was the only bed she knew.

It breaks my heart to know the pain that she has felt in this life. I’m one of those crazy pet owners who thinks of my dogs as my children.

We got Sadie three years ago when she was five and I promise that she has been spoiled rotten since her adoption and the same can be said of Sabrina and Brando. We keep all three of our dogs in the house, they eat the best food, and they get lots of love and affection.

The early treatment of these sweet dogs breaks my heart. There are so many horror stories that surround the breed. There have been stories of owners cutting their ears off, dropping the dogs off in the desert or, in Florida, into alligator pits.
This is why there is such a massive movement to save these dogs. In most states, greyhounds aren’t considered domestic pets. Instead, they’re considered livestock. This means that greyhounds can be slaughtered like cattle.

I have two now, but if I could, we’d adopt 100 more. We need to find homes for these dogs so that the rescue organizations can save more of them.

If you’re interested in adopting a greyhound, there are plenty of places around here to look. You will find many to adopt.

America’s Country Store in Landrum has a greyhound rescue group called For the Hounds that meets twice a month.

Other groups are also around, such as Greyhound Crossroads or Greyhounds and Love in Anderson.

If you could just look into my Sadie’s big, brown, almost human eyes you would understand my plea.

Sadie and Sabrina are so sweet and beautiful and to imagine the life they’ve led is unimaginable for me.

Every day when they dance at dinner time or when they lean into me to show their love, I thank God that I adopted them and that there are organizations out there that are devoted to saving others like them.

Those who do it are an inspiration to me and I hope now that they are to you.

Don’t get me wrong, all dogs need to be rescued. I wish there wasn’t a need for all the rescue groups around the country. I wish that everyone treated their dogs like we do. I wish that everyone would just stop and consider the story behind their dogs’ eyes.

Each story will touch your heart. It might make you smile. It might make you cry.
All I know is that I’m busy trying to erase the bad memories from my doggies’ past.