It was a clean sweep at GAP’s penultimate Adoption Day for 2017 which was held at Sandown on Saturday, with all 32 greyhounds walking out the door to new homes.

A terrific crowd of about 400 people turned up to meet the greyhounds. Many were ready to give a dog a new home, for others it was an opportunity to find out more about the breed.

The dog trailers will make their next trip down the Calder Freeway to Geelong on Sunday, 3 December, for the final adoption day in 2017.

While most of the dogs at Sandown have racing backgrounds, there was one that stood out among the crowd due to his stellar performances on the track.

Danny, formerly known as Dublin Bull, accrued $156,811 in prize money during his racing career, winning 21 from 69 starts, plus 13 minor placings.

GAP manager Larissa Darragh said GAP has re-homed many prize-winning greyhounds, and Danny is up there as one of the most successful in terms of career prizemoney.

“He is a good example of how all kinds of greyhounds can be transitioned to a new life away from the racetrack. It’s all about their temperament and what’s been done to prepare them for re-homing.

“It’s important that they spend at least one to two months away from the track – ideally in a backyard with some supervised access inside the house to acclimatise them to unfamiliar sights, sounds, smells and floor surfaces.

“They need to be able to walk on a lead and must be well-socialised with people and other breeds of dogs. Danny’s owners did a good job getting him ready for GAP.”

Trained by one of Victoria’s best-known trainers Jeff Britton, Dublin Bull saved his best ‘til last when he took first place and $40,000 in his last outing in the Group 2 Summer Distance Plate in Sydney back in January.

Unfortunately, Danny subsequently sustained an injury during trackwork, according to his previous owner Steve Hynes, and the decision was made to retire the dog and prepare him for re-homing.

“Danny was a ripper. Jeff encouraged us to try the GAP program are we are glad we did. There is a bit of attention needed to help the dogs adjust to their new lives. It took Danny about a month of living away from a traditional kennel – and I understand that not every dog is able to adjust but Danny got into the GAP program the first time.”

Steve co-owned Danny with two former school mates and together they have been racing greyhounds with Jeff since the 1980s.

“It’s a good way to stay in touch with each other,” Steve said.

Jeff suggested placing Danny with someone he knows who prepares greyhounds for the wind-down into retirement.

“They need to be out of the kennel environment and away from the track before they go to GAP and I think this woman does it as a labour of love.

“We are happy that Danny is living comfortably and happily somewhere and credit should go to her and any other volunteer who helps make that adjustment happen.”

On Sunday Danny walked away from Sandown to his new home in Koo Wee Rup.

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