IT was a dog lover’s paradise at the weekend as dozens of greyhounds and their owners assembled for a global group walk.
97 greyhounds gathered for the Global Greyhound Walk at Sizergh Castle on Sunday, which was organised by Witherslack charity Retired Greyhounds South Lakes (RGSL).
The annual event brings together greyhounds and their owners from across the globe-in their own respective parts of the world- who take part in walks on the same day to compete for who has the greatest number of attendees.
More locally, it offers the chance to raise awareness of the work RGSL does, which has been running walks at Sizergh since 2004.
“It was a great day and we managed to raise £545,” said Jenny Stott, co-founder of RGSL.
“The last Global Greyhound Walk was in 2019 and we took part as the Greyhound Trust.
“On that occasion we had 98 dogs attending, making us the sixth largest in the UK out of 123 organised walks and tenth largest in the world out of 274 walks.”
RGSL was founded as an independent charity in 2020 and had previously been part of the Greyhound Trust.
Mrs Stott and her husband Stuart started fostering and rehoming retiring racing greyhounds in 2004.
Since then they have found homes for more than 750 dogs.
Many of the greyhounds who attended yesterday had been rescued from the charity, and Mr Stott led the pack of walkers for an 11am start with 12-year-old Star.
Helen Smith, a trustee of the charity, said: “It’s amazing to see all the dogs who turned out on Sunday and to think that the vast majority of them found homes due to the work done by RGSL.”
Among walkers was Debbie and David Simmonds, from Grange, and their dog Bryony.
The couple had only adopted Bryony from the charity two days before the walk, which offered a chance to socialise their new addition.
Meanwhile, it was the first time James and Bethany Greenwood, from Carnforth, had attended with their dogs Sam and May, who they adopted from Animal Care in Lancaster.
“We love greyhounds,” said Mr Greenwood.
And Sarah Martin attended with greyhounds Oliver and Lena.
“We’ve done lots of these walks with Oliver,” she said.
“And it’s good publicity for the charity.”
The walk was organised by volunteer Emily Dixon, from Kendal, who organises monthly walks on every second Sunday for the charity.
“Sizergh is the perfect venue for a big walk like this and we must thank the National Trust and staff for their assistance,” she said.
“The monthly walks are a fantastic opportunity for greyhound owners to meet up and socialise.”
To find out more about the charity visit www.rgsl.uk
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