Bay Area welcomes rescued Greyhounds

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Canine refugees from Guam are finding new homes in the Bay Area. A Greyhound track closed its doors, and a few hundred dogs had nowhere to go.

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Tara is still getting used to her new home in San Francisco with Bruce Bernor and his other dog Cairo. Bernor just adopted Tara from a race track in Guam, via a Bay Area Greyhound rescue group.

"I was curious, I said, why would you be getting them from Guam when we have so many here who need homes also," said Bernor.

When the Guam track shut down in November, 300 dogs had nowhere to go. The owners gave away 100 of them to anyone who wanted one.

And soon after, they started being found abandoned and starving.

"When they found her she was 37 pounds, laying in the grass, too weak to get up," said Bernor.

"Several people got together and said you know we really need to do something about this," said Barbara Judson.

Judson is president of Bay Area-based Greyhound Friends for Life, a rescue group that relies entirely on volunteers and donations.

It's part of a network of western U.S. rescue and adoption groups that have swooped in to save the Guam dogs.

None of her five adopted Greyhounds are from there. She just doesn't have any more room.

"Some of them have gone to Seattle and Portland up in that area a group up in Calgary some of them have gone to New Mexico," said Judson.

Judson says the Guam Rescue Group took the lead and soon 70 of the 100 giveaway dogs were found. They're being rehabilitated and flown to Los Angeles at a cost of $500 each.

From there, they are dispersed to the different rescue groups, foster homes and finally adoptive homes like Bernor's.

Tara, like all Greyhounds, doesn't miss the track.

"They call them the 35-mile an hour couch potato -- is a nickname for them. In fact there's a saying, adopt a Greyhound, lose a couch and I can tell you it's very true," said Bernor.

So far about 70 of the Guam dogs have come to the U.S., at least another 55 are waiting for their turn.

We learned about this story from an ABC7 Listens Community Meeting. Our next one will be in Danville, in about three weeks.

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