15/09/2026
We are often asked when homing a grey ‘Is it hard to let them go?’
This time…yes. Very hard.
Atarah came to us as a two year old, he hadn’t been great at racing and was to become a young pet…that was the plan.
He was nervous, scared of people he didn’t know and scared of the outside world. We have met 100s of greys over the years, some are nervous but this was another level.
Our volunteers worked with him, gave him space and time and eventually in the kennels we saw…a tail wag?! A bounce! Playing with toys 😳 wow what an amazing boy hidden away.
But away from the kennels and with strangers… he retreated back into his shell, reluctant and unable to let anyone see the real boy under the fear.
But we persevered, some out there think a grey should be snapped up instantly (we agree with the sentiment) but in reality some do stick and here we had one sticky boy.
And then….bump! How many times has he bumped into something this week? 🤔 something isn’t right.
Vet visits and ophthalmology appointments later, Atarah was now living in a scary world that was going dark very quickly. He’d already lost full sight in one eye and the other was fading fast.
How do we find a home for a big, black, scared and now blind boy? Impossible!
And it felt like that for a while. We gave him the best write up, appeals and some more appeals, tried to let people know who the real boy was with just a little time and trust…even I tried him at home with me but he just didn’t like my cat (or liked her too much depending on how we look at it!). Time plodded on and things change but not the second kennel…that never changed ownership.
In five years we can count on one hand how many inquiries we had on this boy…we need less fingers to count those who actually came to see him.
Then, one very unassuming day in August, an email lands in our inbox…
‘Looking for a companion for our blind boy….’
‘home and outside space is 'blind greyhound proofed' including a small paddock’
‘Home most of the day…’
‘Would love to hear more’
Ok, this is it, his chance!
They lived over three hours away but we couldn’t let his chance slip by and risk waiting another 5 years 🙈
I can’t describe that meeting, even now.
He turned up in his shell and listening for my voice but by the end of the day he had decided to be brave, to let them in and for the first time in all the years doing it I can honestly say he chose them. As we said our goodbyes he never got up, just raised his head to us as much as to say ‘I like it here, you can leave me’
Yes there were tears, even now thinking back there are still tears.
Hatty as he is now known is 7.5 now, he was adopted 5 years to the day he joined us…another sign this home was meant to be.
He’s enjoying life with his fantastic, understanding owners. He’s enjoying Sydney, his brother, teaching him the hard ways of garden centres and Starbucks and whilst he’s scared, he’s loving it. They have competitions of who throws the toy the highest and spend their days in the peaceful countryside garden .
So yes…sometimes it’s hard.
It’s always worth it though.
Seeing that second kennel with a new occupant, reminds us why we do this and we give a little smile and carry on
