Thanks to sustained industry efforts, the injury rate in races is under 2% and most are not serious; 9,997 out of every 10,000 greyhounds that run go home safe.

Portela saw on the news that Florida’s greyhound tracks were closing because of the pandemic and that dogs were in need of homes, but that doesn’t reflect the magnitude of the challenge that has befallen the state’s network of adoption agencies almost instantaneously.

A few months before I joined the club, Natalya and I found out we were going to have another baby, and our son was born, at home, the night before my first pigeon race. We’d watch them fly around the house each morning, and wait in the garden for them to come home from races.

I should just go home.’ Courtesy of Libby Riddles [Then I remembered,] ‘Hey, wait a minute, I have to go help my dogs!’ I shut up, got up and started running after [my] dog team.

Finn’s naps are part of his work as a therapy dog at Riley’s Children Health in Indianapolis, where he helps comfort sick kids. Loubie the 'Hugging Dog' brings joy and love to children with disabilities “We decided we were going to foster (Finn), especially when we found out what his name was,” Moore explained.

Kevin Murphy, president of Skijor USA in Lino Lakes, Minnesota, which sanctions and stages events and provides training and clinics, says the sport provides great bonding between humans and animals, as they really need to work in sync to succeed.