Celebrate our good old dogs on Tuesday evening

[Dan Alaimo]

Annie, The 9-Year-Old Greyhound, Finds A Home In Lakewood

Come to The Furry Nation pet store, 15800 Detroit Ave., on Tuesday, December 6, from 5- 8 p.m. for a celebration of our good old dogs.

This is the occasion of the official adoption of Annie, a nine-year-old greyhound, who after a terrible life filled with injury, neglect and rejection, will now spend the rest of her years in a loving home in Lakewood. At 7 p.m. we will toast Annie’s adoption, along with the adoption of any other senior dogs in attendance (define ‘senior’ any way you like). We also will pause to remember good old dogs who are no longer with us.

Annie is being adopted from Erie Shore Greyhound Adoption of Ohio, which will hold a meet-and-greet that evening at Furry Nation, complete with adoptable greyhounds. All will be younger than Annie, but few will act younger. Also, Tuesdays are double-point days for Furry Nation’s loyalty program.

The event also will be a fundraiser to help cover the veterinary bills the group incurred restoring Annie to good health. Please be generous — checks can be made out to ESGAO, note the “Annie Fund” on the memo line. ESGAO plans to use any extra money from this fund to take care of future special needs dogs that come our way — an inevitable part of greyhound rescue — and continue the “Annie Fund” into the future. (See esgao.org, or contact me at danalaimo@gmail.com if you want to help, have questions, but can’t make it on December 6.)

When Annie came to the adoption group, she was in a bad way. She has arthritis in a leg broken in her last race in 2005, but never cared for properly, nor medicated for the pain it caused, and her teeth and gums were in need of immediate attention. She ended up losing seven teeth, now has a prescription for her leg pain, and she seems like a new dog, thanks to the care of Dr. John Reveley of River Square Animal Hospital in Rocky River.

Annie won five races before breaking her leg, and then the racing industry was done with her. She spent several years in a household in Alabama, but was later abandoned at a vet clinic, where she was eventually recovered by a greyhound group in Birmingham. They sent her to us, and we first met Annie at 5 a.m. on August 14 when she came off a truck in a Meijer parking lot near Toledo.

Despite all the trauma in this dog’s life, she is one of the sweetest and most active greyhounds you will meet. She loves people and especially children. She also enjoys Lakewood, including walks along Detroit Avenue, through Kauffman Park, and the occasional special excursion to Lakewood Park. Someday soon she’ll visit the Dog Park. However, cats and very small dogs (and probably hens, too) are advised to stay away from this greyhound.