A retired greyhound and her owners who were at the forefront of the successful Save Oxford Stadium campaign will return to the track on Friday to raise funds for a local homing charity.
Dash, aka Walnut Dash, retired from racing in 2013 after recording six wins from her 17 starts and has since enjoyed the luxury life with Oxfordshire couple and stadium volunteers Wayne and Liz Mazey.
The 12-year-old greyhound celebrates her 13th birthday on Friday and will parade in front of the stadium’s main grandstand ahead of racing while collecting funds for Greyhounds in Need of Loving Homes.
The charity helps retired greyhounds find their forever home once their racing career ends, which typically lasts until they are three to five years old.
Joining Dash plus Wayne and Liz on the night will be Luna, aka Savana Jackie and Bangerz, better known as The Rockstar during his racing days.
Wayne said: “Since Dash retired from racing, her key purpose in life was to support all the efforts behind the scenes to reopen Oxford Stadium.
“We all know that dream turned into reality and to have the place open again has been a real boost for everyone locally. Greyhound racing has undergone radical change since Dash’s racing days ended with the sport now prioritising providing a good life to all dogs connected to the sport before, during and after their careers.
“It’s for this reason we can support the sport’s present-day operation and we’ll be asking racegoers on Friday to dig deep and back an excellent charity which does so much locally to find our retired athletes a loving home.”
The collection will form part of Oxford Stadium’s Loved in Retirement campaign.
Launched in September 2022, the campaign aims to shine a light on retired greyhounds and educate people about the key requirements of owning an ex-racing dog.
It’s underpinned by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain’s Greyhound Retirement Scheme (GRS) which was established in September 2020 to safeguard the future of all racing greyhounds when they retire via a bond.
To date, the scheme has distributed over £3.6million to GBGB approved homing centres with the sport now recording a 94.5% rehoming rate. At the start of the millennium, that figure was only 16%.
Wayne added: “Greyhounds are one of the laziest breeds of dog in existence and will sleep for up to 22 hours each day.
“They are far less demanding than other working breeds such as Labradors, Huskies, Spaniels and Collies and require only two short walks each day.
“We’d recommend any person or family looking into buying a dog to consider adopting a retired greyhound, providing they can commit the time required to being a responsible owner.”
Further information about adopting a retired greyhound from Oxford Stadium is available via Wayne who can be contacted on 07969 263560. Doors open on Friday night at 5.30pm with the first race due off at 6.17pm.
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