By Angeljean Chiaramida
Staff writer
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SALISBURY — Through her Salisbury-based nonprofit organization, Marilyn Wolkovits has been rescuing and finding good homes for retired racing greyhounds since 1996. This week, her Jak-Len Drive facility is getting a little rescuing of its own.
Through a joint effort with the Project Pawsitive Foundation, Wolkovits' Greyhound Adoption Service kennel is getting a much- needed rehab. Almost $30,000 of the $50,000 needed to complete the project is in, with hopes the rest will be coming in soon from dog lovers everywhere.
According to Jill Sullivan Grueter and JB Byrne of Project Pawsitive, the group went in search of a worthy animal rescue organization to help, and Greyhound Adoption Service rose to the top of the list.
"It was because Marilyn puts all her efforts and her own money into the dogs," Byrne said. "With her, the dogs came first, not her facility. Our goal in this project is to find a way to make the day-to-day life of the dogs and the Greyhound Adoption Service volunteers easier so the volunteers can focus on the animals instead of fixing a leak in the roof or a broken window."
Although money has been raised by both organizations, the work will be done by Project Pawsitive volunteer labor, Grueter said, which includes Byrne, a home builder from Dover, N.H., and Drew Davis and Simon Macalister, also from Dover.
Construction plans include tearing down parts of the old kennel, rebuilding the 900 square feet that was demolished, and replacing the kennel's roof, siding, windows and doors. Also planned is building a new four-dog facility where greyhounds from outside Massachusetts are to be isolated for 48 hours, according to state law, before they can become part of the kennel's population.
Greyhound Adoption Service is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit dedicated to finding homes for both retired racing greyhounds that can no longer compete and young greyhounds not placed on the racetrack. Although live greyhound racing no longer takes place in New Hampshire or Massachusetts, Wolkovits receives retired racing dogs from Florida, Kansas and West Virginia. Without adoption services like hers, some retired greyhounds are euthanized when their racing days are over and no home can be found for them.
The current goal of the rebuilding project is to do all the exterior work now, Byrne said, making the facility safe and weather-tight. After that, more money will be raised; and with the help of more volunteers, the interior work will be done to complete the facility that will house a maximum of 12 greyhounds the public can adopt.
A Hampton, N.H.-based foundation, the Project Pawsitive Foundation is a New Hampshire nonprofit dedicated to restoring, renovating or rebuilding no-kill animal rescue facilities. Its first effort was at a horse rescue facility in Epping, N.H., Grueter said, but this project in Salisbury is by far their largest. Major supporters have been Home Depot, Lindt Chocolate and Newmarket International, which together have provided almost $10,000, Grueter said. But it's the work done by volunteers who donate their labor that make the project possible, she added.
According to Greyhound Adoption Service volunteer Deborah Schildkraut, its donors have contributed about $20,000 to the project with the hope more is on the way. Schildkraut said GAS is more of a sanctuary than an adoption program. For example, if a family adopts a greyhound then finds it's not working out, Wolkovits will take the dog back.
"Once a dog comes to Greyhound Adoption Service, we care for it the rest of its life," Schildkraut said.
The organization has a small stalwart band of volunteers who, with Wolkovits, is responsible for the placement of hundreds of greyhounds.
'Truly amazing'
Topsfield resident Ann Seamonds, president of Seamonds and Company Public Relations and Marketing Communications, has adopted four retired greyhounds from Wolkovits.
"She is truly an amazing lady," Seamonds said. "Through her efforts, and those of the volunteers who help her organization, more than 2,000 retired greyhounds have found loving homes. The kennel renovation will help secure the future of the program for many years to come."
Seamonds is a walking promotion bureau for the benefits of adopting retired racing greyhounds.
"I chose to adopt greyhounds because I think they're exceptional companions," Seamonds said. "They're soul mates, very loving, sensitive and generous of spirit. And because I hate waste. The idea of helping an animal that would otherwise be discarded is very important to me."
Since the greyhound is one of the fastest breeds in the canine world, able to achieve speeds in excess of 40 mph, Seamonds said some people shy away from adopting them because of the misconception they need a lot of exercise. But that's not the case, Seamonds said. Greyhounds live happily with owners who take them for daily walks or let them play in a well-fenced yard.
"They're really 40-mph couch potatoes," Seamonds said. "What they really seem to like the most is lying down on the couch and just being with you. They make good pets for people who live in apartments. Although they're large animals, they curl up like a cat and are very quiet dogs."
But Seamonds offers one warning.
"When you're out with a greyhound, don't let it off the lead," she said, laughing. "They're sight hounds, and if they see something, they'll chase it. They're so fast that by the time you yell for them, they're gone."
For more information, contact:
The Greyhound Adoption Service,
P.O. Box 5236
Salisbury, MA 01952
978-462-7973
www.greycanine.org.
Project Pawsitive Foundation.
18 Westridge Drive
Hampton, N.H. 03842
603-661-4775
www.projectpawsitive.com
