The perfect excuse to fall for a long dog, even if your sofa isn't quite ready for a lodger yet.
You'll know it's April when your feed fills up with greyhounds. Greyhounds in fleece coats. Greyhounds upside down on sofas. Greyhounds gazing into the middle distance like the lead in a period drama, waiting for someone to gallop across the moors and adopt them. It's not your imagination. It's Adopt a Greyhound Month.
What it is
The idea started in the United States and has spread. These days, plenty of rescues in Ireland and the UK use April as their big push to find homes for retired greyhounds, with a bit of gentle myth-busting on the side.
Spring works well for it. The evenings are longer, the weather's kinder (in theory, this being Ireland and the UK) and kennels can finally hold outdoor events without everyone going home damp. Some rescues time neutering and health checks so more hounds are ready to go when interest peaks.
Why it matters
Greyhounds are the quiet ones in a rescue. They don't bark at the kennel door. They don't bounce. They lie on their bed looking elegant and slightly tragic, and people walk straight past to the livelier dogs who are shouting about how much they'd like a home. A month in the spotlight helps the quiet ones get noticed.
It's also a chance to set the record straight. Most retired greyhounds aren't hyperactive, don't need hours of running and would much rather you sat down so they could lean on you. Our post on the case for adopting a retired greyhound has the numbers on why so many need homes, and our Myths page deals with the rest.
How to join in (even if you can't adopt)
Not everyone can take a hound home this April. That's completely fine. There are plenty of other ways to help.
- Go to an open dayMeet a few greyhounds in person, ask the volunteers everything and see how you feel when one leans on your legs. (You will feel things. Consider yourself warned.)
- FosterRescues always need foster homes. You get the sofa company, they get a hound out of kennels and learn what that hound is actually like in a real house, which makes matching them with the right forever home much easier.
- Share a specific houndA post about one named hound looking for a home travels much further than a general appeal. Share your local rescue's posts and you might be the link to exactly the right person.
- VolunteerWalking, cleaning, fundraising, driving, washing an alarming number of blankets. Every rescue needs hands, and most would welcome yours.
Before you fall for a face
Open days are wonderful and very dangerous. You'll go along to "just have a look" and come home having mentally named a hound, rearranged the living room and priced up fleece pyjamas. We speak from experience. Several times over.
So go armed with a few questions. How is this hound with cats, children and other dogs? How do they cope on their own? What's their story so far? What worries them? A good rescue will answer honestly and ask you plenty back, because they want the match to work as much as you do.
It's also worth thinking about your own life before you go. Who's home during the day? Are there stairs, and could a nervous hound manage them? Are you renting, and does your landlord know? None of these are deal-breakers. They're just easier to think about before a long nose is resting on your knee. Our Adopting a Sighthound page covers what to expect from the whole process.
Not ready in April? That's fine
Greyhounds need homes in November too. And February. And on a wet Tuesday in August when nobody's posting about them at all. The month is a nudge, not a deadline. If you start looking in autumn, the rescues will be just as glad to hear from you, and the hounds certainly won't mind what month it is.
Whenever it happens, the end result is the same: One more long dog on one more sofa, and one more owner who's lost their seat for good.
