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Updates
6/4/05 Gus is now safe--at home in Houston. View
his pictures upon arriving at GPA Houston~ here.
8/5/05
Gus was adopted.
10/05 Gus in Dewey Beach. View him
here.
Read his story below to appreciate him and the capture.
Special note from Board of Directors, GPA/Houston:
Everyone who has followed Gus’s story has
been curious to know his racing name and how he came to be wandering the
woods around San Augustine. GPA Houston has spoken at length to his
original owner who is a member of the Texas Greyhound Association. Gus
was given to a man who appeared to have excellent credentials and made a
number of representations about Gus’s future that we can safely assume
were not true. His original owner does not read the discussions boards
and was very upset to learn of the plight of one of his dogs. We know
him to be a caring and responsible owner. Unfortunately his trust was
betrayed in this situation. GPA Houston has certainly done its share of
adoptions to individuals and families who promise faithfully to abide by
the conditions of the adoption contract and then violate them, and so
has every group in the country.
No useful purpose can be served by holding up to public scrutiny any
person who acts in good faith. We will therefore not publish Gus’s
racing name, tattoos, or the name of his original owner.
What is important is Gus's future, not his past -- where he is going,
not where he has been. We hope everyone understands and respects our
decision.
Greyt Hound from San Augustine, TX
Support had been shown on the
Greytalk Bulletin Board
from Florida to Southern California, from Texas to Canada and everywhere in between! Folks offered
their suggestions as to how to capture this hound, loose in far East
Texas...what to do and how
to do it. Everyone was encouraged to visit Greytalk and our own
Discussion Board and follow the posts from people
throughout North America!
Where is San Augustine, TX., you say?
Click here
to see where Gus lived. A History of Gus, the Greythound.....
A Gus Tale
(as told by Diana Fabrique…)
Tonight, after you tuck your kids in bed, take your greyhound for his
last walk of the day, and then lock up your house for the night… look
around you and think how horrible you would feel if suddenly your sweet
baby grey bolted out the door, and you could not find him. You would alert
all of your friends and neighbors as well as the GPA and pray that one of
these people could help you find your baby. He has a collar and tag, so
you know that he can be identified.
That is the way it is supposed to work. However, for some greyhounds,
that is not the case. There is no loving family, no soft couch to sleep on
during the day and no bag of yummies waiting for them when they give you,
their Mommy, that sweet irresistible look. You know the look I mean, the
one where they cock their head ever so slightly and look at you with those
big brown eyes.
You see there are greyhounds out there that have been abandoned and
they don’t know what it is like to be wanted and loved. This is Gus’s
story and I will keep it short and to the point, but at the end of this
story I hope that you the reader, will come away knowing that you can make
a difference in a greyhound’s life in ways besides adopting. You can help
bring these sweet babies in out of the cold.
I found out about Gus about 4 months ago. It seems that a woman in San
Augustine, Texas, 4 hours Northeast of Houston, had seen a greyhound
running around loose for about 2 months. She posted a note on
Greytalk.com’s Amber Alert, a greyhound site dedicated to lost or
abandoned greyhounds. She said he was very scared and very skinny. After a
short period of time my girlfriend and I went to S.A. (San Augustine) to
try and find and rescue this greyhound. Little did we know that it would
end up becoming a quest of sorts to bringing this greyhound to Houston
where we knew our GPA could find him a new home. Well, we found him all
right; he is a big boy, white with light brindle patches around his ears
and he is beautiful. At the time we found him he was about 40 pounds and
from the looks of his size, he was about 30 pounds or more underweight.
Gus, as I named him, was a spook and there was no way that we were going
to catch him using the traditional methods of just sitting down and
ignoring him. Tried it, it did not work! Just ask my cold sore bottom
after sitting in a field for anywhere from ½ hour to 4 hours in the same
spot hoping he would come to me, or my greyhound Katie. She was less than
thrilled with the whole thing too. After 5 trips to SA, meeting the locals
and gaining their trust, we were able to get a wonderful article about Gus
put in the local paper and more importantly were able to get the people of
SA to stop shooting at Gus to get him off their property. We also were
able to get them to start calling us with Gus Sightings so we could track
his activities.
So, here we are, 4 months later, we know where Gus is, we just can’t
gain his trust. We have been able to put some weight on him, about 20
pounds, give him worming medication in his food, after following him and
finding his "deposits" filled with worms, as well as vitamins and get him
healthy enough that his broken right hock has mended and his gait is a
thousand fold improved. Gus has a rope tied to his neck, but no collar or
tags. Did he race or not, we don’t know. We have some information on him
but I am unable to confirm what I have been told, other than he was not
wanted. That we know for sure. So for now, Gus has no history and if we
can’t capture him soon, he may have no future. Katie and I will be going
back to SA in two weeks to try again to gain his trust and maybe bring him
home. I know this may take months, but I am committed to bring Gus to
Houston, to our GPA and our GPA vets, and to a wonderful foster family who
can start him on his way to his forever home.
As you may well be aware, the people and
their hounds that have been traveling to and staying in the San Augustine
area have been using their own funds. They have been staying in area
motels, and purchasing dog food, worming medicines etc., for Gus out of
their own pockets. -- And as anyone can imagine, these costs do add up.
GPA/Houston is reimbursing these
folks for their expenses. If you would like to help to offset
these costs and to help offset the costs that are certainly to come,
please click on the PayPal button to offer your support.
The Houston Chapter of Greyhound Pets of America had
offered to take Gus in, get him any medical attention that was needed and to find him the
loving forever home that he deserved. The Board of Directors,
GPA/Houston had contacted one of its' vets ahead of Gus' arrival, who
was
anxious to meet Gus and to determine what health services he might require. (A
complete physical exam, blood work, teeth cleaning, neutering and any
additional care that might be needed would be given to Gus. If it was
determined that Gus needed a specialist's care, this too would be provided.)
Gus was posted as a VERY Special Needs dog, on our
Special Dogs' page. All of the many
donations received were most appreciated. Many bags
of food and needed medications as well as the stay in the Hotel, driving to
and from SA and material bought for Gus was paid from the donations.
Estimated cost so far. We will update the cost as we receive changes.
$2.000,00
Donations so far have
been received in the amounts of:
$ 25.00 from Brock's Dad.
$ 150.00 from Flash
$ 50.00 from Kay Lockhard
$ 50.00 from Tanya and $50 from her company matching fund
$ 25.00 from Barnett family, Manitowoc, WI
$ 100.00 from Alexandra
$ 50.00 from Laura Knizner
$ 87.00 from donation jar of Petco Hw6 North
$ 100.00 from Amigo
$ 100.00 from Dianne Mire
$ 100.00 from Brock's Dad
$2500.00 from On-line Auction
Collected so far for Gus:
$3437.00
His costs have been met--We thank you!
Donations were made by clicking on the paypal button below.
Or donations were made via our sponsor form.
Sponsor Form
Thanks to many who opened
their check book, or got out their credit card and participated in our
On-Line Auction! This auction was a greyt success with over
$3000.00 collected towards Gus and our other Special Needs Hounds. There
were
over 100 items - something for just about everyone! Thanks to
everyone for their generous support!
3/15/05 Diana reports that perhaps Gus has been injured, so she is leaving for
San Augustine a little earlier than planned.....will report soon on how
things go...
3/28/05 Go
to
greytalk and click on the last page, Diana has been keeping us posted
on that link or click
here on
the latest updates on our bb.
3/31/05 Further updates from Diane....posted on both Greytalk and
GPA/Houston BB.-Looking for additional helpers to possibly go into the
thicket area where they think Gus hides....
4/1/05 Boy, oh boy, oh boy! Almost got him
today---Diana's detailed report on our BB at this
link.
6/4/05 am GREAT NEWS!.....just been
reported on GPA/Houston BB that Gus is on his way home! will post more as
we get more news....
latest posting
6/4/05......6pm...Gus is home in Houston, at the GPA kennel! Read
the
latest posting.
6/10/05.....Diana reports that Gus does NOT have heart worms--tests
came back negative. Fantastic news---we now wait for the results from the
tick panels....
6/14/05 Gus' blood work is remarkable. All of it is normal. Tick
panels are negative, the only exception is the Lyme panel, which has very
low titers. He is receiving Doxy for one month and then he will be ready
to be neutered. This is fantastic news.
6/24/05 Gus went to his foster home for the Holidays.
He is doing well so far. He is still on Doxy and soon will be neutered. To
keep up to date you can read about him on our
bb.
He also has now a second
album
showing how he learns to be a house pet.
7/2/05 Gus has been in his foster home now and he is doing well.
Read about him on our
Bulletin
Board. And one more
thread
on the bb. Here is an other
thread
about him. And
one
more.
7/17/05 An "Auction for Gus" and our other Special Needs Hounds (he's
willing to share!) was held from July 6 and ending on July 15, 2005 at
10pm EDT. The total raised was:
$3267.00 (gross)
8/05/05
Gus has been adopted!!!!
Read about the adoption on
our bb.
Here is the
album again and new pictures have been added.
8/10/05 Gus in now living in Pennsylvania.
10/05 Gus in Dewey Beach meeting with friends. Here are the
pictures.
11/24/05 Update on Gus From his Dad, Ed.
Gus is doing very well, with the exception of his SA. If I leave him, even
for a minute, he whines and stands looking out the window until I return.
Fortunately there is no destructive behavior (yet!) along with it.
I have been trying de-sensitization techniques. Hopefully he will grow out
of this, although I fear it's going to be a long road. Basically, he is a
very laid-back hound.
I had a toe on his right rear paw removed on September 16. It had been
broken somewhere along the way and was a constant source of pain and
swelling. We tried everything before resorting to the amputation. He had
no problem with either the surgery or post-op, and is now walking fine.
He had severe distrust of most people, traffic, and noises; no doubt due
to the 9 months of kids throwing rocks at him as well as the lady who shot
him in his side ("he was going through my trash"). He has a pretty large
scar.
A few weeks ago I began working gratis, regarding a grief issue, with a
waitress at our local steak/seafood restaurant ( the best around). Several
times a week she drops off scraps for Gus. Needless to say, she is
now his best friend.
Well, they're the highlights. I do hope to be able to get
Gus a girlfriend in the future (as long as she's not a
whiner!)
10/10/07
update...update...update...(from Gus' Dad!)
"from Gus's ownee...
Pardon the delay of an update. There were some technical glitches.
I last mentioned possibly getting Gus a
girlfriend. Well, an opportunity for an 8 year-old retired brood Mom
presented itself. I always thought of these hard-to-place, so deserving,
rather docile, laid-back greys.
On June 10, '06 I traveled to NJ to pickup said brood Mom, by the name
of Magic (Magic Ballad). The adoption group delivered her from Long
Island. I soon discovered that my perceived laid-back Mom was actually
an Irish Bitch (literally!). She had raced in Florida, then retired to a
farm to produce 18 pups.
We were in my friend's house for less than
an hour. Magic was standing in front of me. Suddenly her ears perched
(although they are mostly always up). In a split second she dashed into
the adjoining room when I next heard the crash of broken glass. She had
spotted the family cat perched outside the window. She went right
through it. Fortunately, the feline escaped and Magic was unscathed
by both the broken glass and the venture.
So, I now have a high SA grey who still
whines when I leave him; and an Irish Bitch who makes me smile so many
times a day~ tossing stuffies and air-snapping at me when we are
preparing for our walks. It just doesn't get any better."
And yes, here's the last
picture of Gus and his Magic!
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