Facts About Greyhound Friends
This document was created to inform the public about the status of Greyhound Friends, Inc., how we got here, and our current objectives for the organization.
Quick overview: who or what is Greyhound Friends?
Greyhound Friends is a Hopkinton based, 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to the welfare and adoption of dogs, focusing specifically on greyhounds and other sighthounds. The organization was founded in 1983 by its former Executive Director, Louise Coleman, who withdrew from that role in 2017. Its office and shelter have been located at its present site on Saddle Hill Road in Hopkinton, MA since 1987.
In addition to operating the adoption kennel, Greyhound Friends’ mission also includes informing and educating the public about greyhounds and other breeds, promoting responsible pet ownership, and generally doing whatever is necessary to prevent cruelty to animals. Consistent with this mission, over the past 35 years Greyhound Friends has grown to include a community of staff, volunteers, adopters, greyhound rehoming advocates, and dog welfare supporters working locally, nationally, and internationally. Through the dedicated efforts of its staff, volunteers, and supporters, the organization has rehomed over 10,000 dogs.
What is the current status of Greyhound Friends?
Greyhound Friends is licensed to house up to 15 dogs, though our usual census is around 8-12. We are open for adoptions Saturday – Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. and also by appointment. Please feel free to visit during our open hours, or contact the kennel for more information: email info@greyhound.org or call and leave a message at 508-435-5969.
How do I adopt from Greyhound Friends?
The first step for prospective adopters is to download and complete a Preadoption Application and bring it along when visiting the kennel. (Please call ahead to schedule your visit by appointment.) After submitting the application, potential adopters are invited to come to the shelter and meet the dogs whose needs and personalities best fit the adopter’s situation and home environment. If a match is made, the adopter signs an Adoption Contract and makes a donation to help cover a portion of our dog care, transport, and vetting costs.
Greyhound Friends staff and volunteers are knowledgeable about the greyhound and sighthound breeds, their specific characteristics and needs. We spend time talking in depth with prospective adopters, providing information about the breeds and the individual dogs in our care, in an effort to make a good and lasting adoption match. We check references and work with adopters to help ensure that the adoption is successful. In some cases, despite best efforts the adoption doesn’t work out; and in those instances we require that the dog be returned to us. Dogs who are returned are often adopted out again very quickly, having the advantage of prior home experience as well as insight into their specific quirks and needs.
Why was Greyhound Friends kennel closed for adoptions in 2017?
Greyhound Friends’ kennel and adoption operation were closed in 2017 for a period of time, then reopened after reorganization. Here’s a summary of what happened:
Between November of 2016 and January of 2017, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural resources (MDAR) made several inspections to the kennel and recommended a number of repairs. These included some worn, unsealed cement areas; damage to the kennel chain link; some pipes and doors; and a few smaller repairs. The Board of Directors agreed that the repairs would be made, and contractors were contacted to schedule the work. The nature of the chain link repairs required all the kennel dogs to be moved so all the chain link structures could be replaced. This is why significant preparation time was needed to do the work, along with the significant cost (over $50,000).
However, when MDAR’s inspections in January 2017 showed that the November recommendations were scheduled but not yet completed, it issued a “cease and desist” order, prohibiting Greyhound Friends from taking in dogs from outside Massachusetts for adoption. Soon after, based on the MDAR’s unsatisfactory assessment of Greyhound Friends’ facility, the Town of Hopkinton suspended its kennel license.
The MDAR’s reports also led to a criminal investigation and charge against Greyhound Friends’ founder, Louise Coleman, by the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office. At this point Louise withdrew permanently from any operational or decision-making role at the shelter. At the conclusion of Louise’s trial in November of 2017, the judge found her not guilty, commenting that the problems noted at the kennel were merely regulatory in nature, and that Louise was to be commended for dedicating her life to helping dogs.
Greyhound Friends is and historically has been in compliance with the annual financial reporting and auditing requirements of the Attorney General’s Division of Public Charities. In 2017, the Division undertook a review of Greyhound Friends’ financial transactions over the prior five years. The Board of Directors fully cooperated with this inquiry, which concluded with an agreement in August 2018. Current board governance practices are fully compliant with the law, with regulatory best practices, and with best practices for nonprofit adoption kennels like ours.
Throughout the closure period Greyhound Friends continued to make improvements to comply with MDAR and Town requirements in order to reopen and resume working toward our core mission. In addition to physical and procedural improvements, we have also made governance and organizational changes, to improve accountability and oversight. It is our goal to meet or exceed current best practices in shelter management and operations. In September of 2019 we regained our Hopkinton kennel license as well as MDAR’s approval of our isolation unit for dogs coming in from outside Massachusetts. The Board of Directors, along with a core of dedicated volunteers, then mounted a successful funding drive to enable a commitment to reopening the kennel, rehiring staff, and resuming operations.
How does oversight work at Greyhound Friends?
As a nonprofit corporation, Greyhound Friends is governed by a committed, volunteer Board of Directors. We have reviewed and updated our policies and procedures and have engaged in board training to ensure that Greyhound Friends’ governance reflects best practices for community-based charitable organizations like ours. Greyhound Friends’ current Executive Director manages staff, volunteers, and all day-to-day operations, reporting to the Board on an ongoing basis. As required by law, the organization is monitored periodically by state and local inspectors and files financial reports with the Public Charities Division of the Attorney General’s Office.
How is Greyhound Friends different after its relaunch?
Previously, Greyhound Friends was licensed to house up to 35 dogs in its kennel. Now, having expanded many of our kennels to double size, we are licensed to house 15 dogs at a time. This lower number of dogs at the facility helps to ensure that each receives more than adequate care and attention from staff and volunteers, so that all aspects of their activities, sanitation, socialization, enrichment, housing, and comfort are healthy and appropriate. Requirements for all staff and volunteers are guided by new protocols, worksheets, checklists, and training materials that have been developed between MDAR and Greyhound Friends.
In recent years Greyhound Friends expanded its adoption efforts from greyhounds only to other breeds and mixes, including hounds and terriers. Our focus, however, remains on our core mission and skill set: rehoming greyhounds and sighthounds including lurchers, Spanish galgos, podencos and salukis). Of course our public education efforts, while focusing on greyhounds, continue to include animal welfare and kindness in general – especially when we present to children.
What specifically has Greyhound Friends done to improve its shelter operation?
Renovations
In January of 2017, Greyhound Friends closed the kennel and commenced physical repairs and renovations. Since the kennel had to be emptied for chain link replacement, the entire kennel was renovated and repainted. Extensive renovations were completed in February, 2017. Because funds to pay for all the work were not available at the time, Greyhound Friends’ longtime contractor agreed to perform the work and wait for payment. The next set of upgrades included the expansion of individual kennels, including those in the Isolation Unit; new laundry equipment; new pea stone gravel in the turnout pens; and important upgrades to the fire protection system. Most recently, in 2024 the facility was upgraded again with updated lighting, better insulation, partial HVAC system replacement, new epoxy flooring, and door/window replacement for greater efficiency. Further facility updates are planned for 2025.
Protocols & Documentation
We have thoroughly reworked our existing staff and volunteer protocols, not only to ensure compliance with state regulations but to go above and beyond the recommended best practices in ensuring proper treatment of the dogs in our care. Greyhound Friends has established a customized, comprehensive system to track the dogs throughout their stay in the shelter and make sure that any behavioral or medical issues are promptly addressed. We also implemented a new software system called Animal Shelter Manager to electronically track all dogs, adopters, and donations and provide real time status reports as needed.
With new protocols in place, staff can ensure stricter controls and carefully maintained paperwork to document any medical and behavioral issues and interventions. Housing significantly fewer dogs at any given time is an important safeguard against any potential oversights in recordkeeping or delivery of care.
Behavioral issues had been observed in some dogs housed at Greyhound Friends; what does that mean?
Over the years, Greyhound Friends has established a successful adoption pipeline, moving at-risk dogs to our kennel in Hopkinton, and then on to loving homes. While the adoption effort focused primarily on greyhounds, more recently other breeds from a variety of backgrounds were also brought to the shelter for re-homing. Some dogs came from adequate living situations, simply needing better opportunities to find a home; others were in dire straits: injured, mistreated, older, overbred, fearful, or otherwise “undesirable” or even “unadoptable” in the eyes of some other shelters.
Since its beginnings, Greyhound Friends has been known for accepting and often intentionally seeking out dogs that other shelters overlooked or rejected for a variety of reasons. Sometimes these “special needs” dogs needed costly veterinary care; not every shelter could afford to provide that. Sometimes, due to their histories, they simply needed more time before adoption to recover from their past, acclimate to their new lives, and learn new behaviors.
A criticism we have heard more than once from inspectors is that we did not “choose better dogs,” because “You have to choose the ones that will move quickly.” We disagree. Cherry-picking dogs that will be easiest to place has never been our philosophy. As a result, at times Greyhound Friends has been the target of some resentment and backlash, largely for trying to help dogs who would not have been helped by others.
In recent years, Greyhound Friends began to take in non-greyhound dogs to help ease the critical need reported from rescue organizations in areas where spay/neuter rates are low and shelter kill rates are distressingly high. Trying to help these dogs also increased the proportion of dogs coming into the kennel with behavioral issues. Greyhound Friends staff and volunteers have worked diligently and successfully to help and ultimately rehome these “special needs” dogs whom no one else wanted. Often that has meant significantly longer stays at the kennel, which may not be the ideal environment for some dogs, but nevertheless is a pathway to adoption.
We continue to believe that dogs with special needs, behavioral or otherwise, are an important part of Greyhound Friends’ rehoming mission. We acknowledge that such dogs require more resources to be invested in their recovery and rehabilitation; that might include greater financial costs, more staff and volunteer time, longer stays at the shelter, special care and training, etc. Our current operational protocols, combined with a plan for fewer dogs at the shelter at any given time, can help Greyhound Friends better attend to the special needs of the dogs we commit to take in and rehome.
Why was there opposition to Greyhound Friends reopening after reorganization?
Most people are opposed to animal cruelty and substandard treatment. So are we.
Sadly, during our 2017 closure many misstatements and misrepresentations about Greyhound Friends were made and fueled anger, especially on social media. The various concerns raised at that time have been addressed, through improvements to the kennel facility and in our expanded protocols and procedures which have been reviewed by MDAR, MSPCA, and also by the original leaders in shelter protocols, the Koret Shelter Program at UC Davis.
We recognize that in past years Greyhound Friends’ capacity was overextended in an attempt to save more dogs than was practical. There was a need for process improvements, better checks and balances on some of our procedures, and more robust oversight. Significant change has now been implemented at every level.
What’s the status since reopening?
We are thankful that the Town of Hopkinton has taken pains to inspect and evaluate Greyhound Friends’ ability to operate as an adoption kennel, reinstating our kennel license in 2019. We are grateful for the expert advice of MDAR and MSPCA. We are enormously grateful to the core volunteers and steadfast donors who have sustained us during the closure. Greyhound Friends has resumed doing its part in the effort to save as many sighthounds as we can, without compromising the quality of our work on their behalf.
Since reopening in 2019, the organization has named Theresa Shepard, CDT as its new Executive Director, steadied its financial base, developed and nurtured multiple partnerships with other rescues locally and abroad, earned top rankings from nonprofit watchdog organizations, and operated successfully to rehome hundreds of dogs in loving, responsible homes. The work continues daily in support of Greyhound Friends’ core mission.
