Greyhounds as Pets Celebrates Adopt a Greyhound Month

Greyhounds as Pets (GAP) are celebrating Adopt-a-Greyhound Month this month. This new promotional campaign is aimed at better acquainting the public with the wonderful qualities greyhounds have as family pets and to promote increased greyhound adoption.

As part of Adopt-a-Greyhound Month, GAP will have hound and human ambassadors out at events around New Zealand, fundraising for GAP’s annual appeal as well as giving the public a 'meet-and-greet' opportunity with these amazing retired athletes.

“In my experience, the public has a unique interest and fascination with greyhounds,” says GAP Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Daniel Bohan. “People break into smiles when they see them out and about, or approach greyhound owners in hopes of meeting the dog and asking questions about them.”

Bohan says that Adopt-a-Greyhound Month is all about giving people the chance to learn more about these one-of-a-kind dogs, and for some, to consider giving them a place in their homes and in their hearts.

To introduce and promote Adopt-a-Greyhound Month, GAP launched a new advertisement video on social media channels. This video, designed to “pull the heartstrings” as Bohan says, is now the most widely watched video GAP has ever produced, reaching more than 50,000 people with more than 20,000 views in just two weeks.



Click here to watch GAP's campaign video.

As usual, GAP’s largest annual appeal event took place in the Wellington region. On what many Wellington locals affectionately call “Greyhound Day” or, Wednesday 10 April, many GAP volunteers stationed at locations around the city and suburbs. This included Wellington Train Station, where Bohan, along with his own Syrus (Bolt Rama), was interviewed onsite for TVNZ’s Breakfast programme by field reporter Imogen Wells.

The Breakfast crew also spoke on air about a greyhound named after host Hayley Holt. The dog Hayley Holt, now named Zoe, was adopted out by GAP to a family in Auckland and a photo from her GAP adoption profile was shown on screen after the original Hayley Holt wondered about her canine namesake.

GAP’s Applications & Home Check Coordinator, Marie Southwood, reported that she had responded to an adoption enquiry received within mere minutes of the first live Breakfast interview. The applicant, who had not previously been aware of Greyhounds as Pets before seeing them on television, expressed her thanks to GAP and wished that more people would adopt the dogs.”

Part of the GAP annual appeal always includes a visit to the New Zealand Racing Board building in Petone. The NZRB staff, as usual, were very generous to GAP’s ‘delegation’, with over $600 collected there alone.

The GAP Adopt-a-Greyhound Month ad, as well as a video clip of the TVNZ Breakfast segment, including some in-studio conversations about greyhounds between hosts Hayley Holt, Jack Tame and crew, can be found on the GAP Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GAPNZ/.

To support Greyhounds as Pets or find your new best friend, visit www.greyhoundsaspets.org.nz.