The Dogs of Avalon by Laura Schenone

Author:Laura Schenone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2017-03-17T04:00:00+00:00

ROSIE MET a couple of trainers who hated to put down a healthy dog and were happy to learn that they could bring a greyhound, who had raced with heart and given so much, here for a second chance. That’s how Louise Coleman and Marion got a brilliant idea: they could work with the good guys in the business.

They called upon the most famous dogman in Ireland. He bred and raced dogs on both sides of the Atlantic, and at the peak of his business he might have six hundred dogs at a time. His dogs’ bloodlines were legendary. He regularly flew them around the world to compete in the biggest derbies, where he won the biggest purses. He’d been in the business full-time since age eighteen and was now in his fifties. Everyone admired, or at least envied him.

When Marion and Louise arrived at his place in Tipperary, he greeted them cordially and took them outside for a tour of the kennels. The dogs had large pens with access to a huge green paddock, a perfect diet, lots of socialization, and exercise six times a day. They looked fabulous, alert, and interested in everything.

Afterward, in the living room, the man’s wife served tea and biscuits. Marion took a sip, to be polite, and returned her cup to its saucer.

“We are here because we know that there are many high-quality people in the industry, such as you, who really look after their dogs. But too many dogs go unaccounted for each year. That’s why we’d like to form a group of Concerned Greyhound Breeders and Owners who can work with us and the Bord na gCon to improve conditions for all greyhounds across the industry. We are hoping you will be part of it with us. If you lead, they will all follow.”

After a respectful silence, he said, “Ladies, I appreciate what you’re doing, but I just can’t help you. I’m sorry.”

Then he and his wife changed the subject. Soon they were discussing the horrors of abortion. Louise and Marion left, with the sound of the heavy door closing shut behind them.

Once Marion got started on the greyhound cause, it was as though she had a fever inside her brain. There was no way to cool it off.

She forced herself to go to the grimy Limerick track so she could witness the industry in action. She learned that for the dogs, the most dangerous places on the track were the turns, which placed pressure on their inner legs and caused the most injuries. The first time she saw a dog go down with a broken leg, there was no vet on site; handlers ran onto the track and dragged the dog off to the side, where he lay yelping in agony for thirty minutes until the vet arrived and administered the shot that would kill him and stop the noise.

“Give me the dog,” Marion cried out from trackside. “I’ll take him and fix his leg. It won’t cost you anything. Give him to me!”

But they didn’t listen.

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