Trip to Wheeling Downs Racetrack

On 6 November 2004, eighteen of us made our way early on Saturday to Wheeling Downs and experienced first hand what racing is all about. We were privileged to see two races of particular relevance to GPA-NoVA and to greyhound adoption. One was the Couch Potato Consolation race, dedicated to GPA-NoVA - the trophy was presented to the winning dog and its handler by Niels Hauffe. The other was the Night of the Stars race, televised nationwide as part of a 17 racetrack competition to raise funds for greyhound adoption. This event raised $9,000 for GPA-Wheeling, presented after the race in a special ceremony to Lou Batdorf. It was a most welcome donation, which will go toward the cost of a new truck for GPA-Wheeling.

Another highlight was the visit to the GPA holding kennel, once again functional and spick and span after weeks of backbreaking work by Lou. Still to come are the new double-decker kennels, which will restore the original capacity of the kennel to 32, almost double the present accommodation. We picked out four dogs to bring back - the choice was not easy. Our thanks go to the drivers who brought back dogs and will be fostering them until the official adoption.