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AFL stars join forces to promote National Greyhound Adoption Day

AFL stars Ollie Wines and Bernie Vince have thrown their support behind the first ever National Greyhound Adoption Day.

The pair, who are the Greyhound Adoption Program ambassadors for South Australia and Victoria respectively, came together recently to talk about the historic adoption day, which will be held in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia on April 29 and Tasmania on April 28.

The joint effort is part of a nation-wide push from greyhound racing authorities to boost awareness of greyhounds as pets.

Melbourne star Vince first became involved in greyhound racing having joined a syndicate with some of his Demons teammates. But his passion soon moved to greyhound adoption, having fostered a greyhound last year.

“It’s great to see all the Australian states come together to really raise the profile of greyhound adoption,” Vince said.

“I’m very passionate about having greyhounds as pets and also dispelling a few myths about them. They’re very chilled and affectionate and perfect for just about any home.”

Port Adelaide’s Wines agreed, saying he had become fond of the breed as he learned more about them.

“They’re very peaceful and terrific company. It’s great to see more and more people taking them on as pets and I want to do all I can to spread the word about how great they are,” Wines said.

“I really want to urge as many people as possible to show up to the adoption day in their state. Even if you might not be thinking about adopting a greyhound right now, you can learn more about them and come and meet one in the flesh.”

Victoria’s adoption day will be held at The Meadows Greyhound Racing Association, running from 11am to 3pm. Greyhound Racing Victoria’s adoption program adopted out a record 1314 dogs in 2016-17, smashing the record set the previous year of 798.

GRV also recently opened the GAP Café, the first Melbourne-based café to have a greyhound theme with the intent of being a city-based showcase for its adoption program.