Bay Area Greyhound Adoptions, Inc.
BAGA volunteers and adopters at one of our Greyhound Reunion Picnics held every fall
Bay Area Greyhound Adoptions, Inc.
13014 N. Dale Mabry Hwy., #180
Tampa, FL 33618
Tampa Bay area: (813) 272-2332
Cape Coral/Fort Myers area: (239) 549-6806
OUR MISSION . . .
Bay Area Greyhound Adoptions is a non-profit, charitable organization, incorporated in the State of Florida in July 2004. Our mission is to find loving homes for greyhounds as pets after their racing days are over. We are staffed entirely by volunteers who love the greyhounds and are dedicated to helping them find great homes as pets after their racing days are over. Our purpose is to promote greyhounds as pets and to find loving homes for the greyhounds in our care. We are recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) charity and any donations provided to us are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. To date, we have placed over 1,600 retired racing greyhounds in loving pet homes. We are here to make sure that every retired racer has a loving home to go to when their racing days are over.
Our name derives from our location, the Tampa Bay Area. We began as a small group of friends who had adopted greyhounds and wanted to help more of these gentle and loving creatures. Since that time, with the help of our many volunteers and supporters, we have expanded our service area. In 2012, we added a chapter in the Cape Coral/Fort Myers area, and now provide greyhound adoptions to the Florida west coast from the Ocala area in the North to the Cape Coral/Fort Myers area in the South. We feel very blessed to have a wonderful group of volunteers and supporters that enable us to continue our work and provide adoption services in these areas.
OUR CREDENTIALS . . .
Since 2004, Bay Area Greyhound Adoptions has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and are registered with the Florida Secretary of State as a non-profit corporation. BAGA is governed by a Board of Directors which consists of volunteers who work every day to help the greyhounds. We are approved for charitable donations and registered with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Registration No. CH39177. We have also been approved by the National Greyhound Association as one of a select group of greyhound adoption agencies as a responsible greyhound adoption partner. In our local community, we are an active member of Carrollwood Area Business Association (CABA). We were selected by the Tampa Award Program as the winner of the 2019 Best of Tampa Award in the Pet Adoption Service category.
WHERE OUR GREYHOUNDS COME FROM . . .
The great majority of our greyhounds come directly from the greyhound racing kennels. We have found that most greyhound kennel owners and trainers love their greyhounds, treat them well, and try hard to find good homes for the ones that are no longer fast enough for the track, those who have no interest in racing and those greyhounds who have reached retirement age. We recognize this effort and appreciate the opportunity to work with them to place their greyhounds in loving pet homes.
Once we are contacted by one of these kennel owners or trainers that have greyhounds they would like to place in homes as pets, we pick up the greyhounds, have their veterinary work done (spay/neuter, teeth cleaning, update vaccines, worming, microchip implantation, and take care of any other medical issues). We then foster the greyhounds in our homes until they are adopted or until they enter one of our prison training programs. This allows us to become familiar with each dog’s personality and temperament, and to help the greyhound adjust to life in a home environment. Not only does fostering help the greyhound, but for our volunteers it is a very rewarding experience. It is fair to say that with each of our foster greyhounds who are adopted, a little piece of our hearts go with them. We do their adoptions with joy and love because we know that we have helped them to find a happy home. We then go on to help another greyhound that needs us.
THE WORK WE DO . . .
Our volunteers show the greyhounds to the public at our numerous “meet and greets” throughout the area. We process adoption applications, conduct home advisories, and act as counselors to families after they bring their adopted greyhound home. We transport the greyhounds from the racing kennel to our vets and to foster homes, we bathe and groom them and have their vet work done prior to their adoption. Through our association with Greyhound Advancement Center, we participate in greyhound prison training programs (currently at Hardee Correctional Institution and Central Florida Reception Center). Through this successful program, many greyhounds have been trained as therapy dogs, and many well-socialized and well-trained greyhounds have found wonderful pet homes, not to mention the opportunity it has given the inmate trainers to have loving companions and positive work to do while they are incarcerated.
We organize greyhound reunion picnics, “Salute to Seniors” to honor our senior greyhounds, fundraisers, and organize other fun events for greyhounds and their humans. We speak at schools, clubs, and with the media about greyhounds as pets, participate in pet fairs, festivals, and other community events. We do pet therapy work with our greyhounds at local hospitals, schools, and assisted living facilities. We maintain a database of all adopted greyhounds and their owners, maintain a website, two Facebook pages, and an Instagram page which we are constantly updating with photos and information.
When necessary, we take in greyhounds with broken legs or other significant racing injuries, finance their surgeries, and keep them in our care until they are healed and ready for adoption.
The photo above shows some of our volunteers celebrating our first 100 greyhound adoptions. Since that time, we have found homes for almost 1,500 more!
Below are some photos of our volunteers and greyhounds. The photo below left shows some BAGA volunteers showing the greyhounds at a local Starbucks. On the right we are at the Crystal River Manatee Festival (with the mascot Manatee).
Shown below are some of additional places we show our greyhounds for adoption. On the left is a meet-and-greet we did at Dillard’s Department Store. On the right, we are at the Wiregrass Arts and Crafts Festival.
The photo below shows BAGA volunteers with greyhounds participating in the St. Francis Day Blessing of the Animals at a local church.
Here we are (photo on left) participating in the annual “Dogtoberfest” adoption event, and (photo on right) at the Festival de Sabor.
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One of our missions is to spread the word about how wonderful greyhounds are as pets. We promote greyhounds at various events in our community, including schools.
The photos below show our BAGA volunteers with greyhounds at a school “Teach-In” day. On the left we are showing elementary students the kennel truck and how we transport the greyhounds. On the right is a photo at another school with the greyhounds, BAGA volunteers, and students.
BAGA’S MISSION TO HELP INJURED GREYHOUNDS: One of our missions is to help as many greyhounds as possible that have career-ending racing injuries or that are injured in some way as puppies before their racing careers even begin. Much of our fundraising efforts go to help provide the funds for surgeries for these dogs. We are fortunate to have wonderful supporters who help with the funding, and a fantastic veterinary surgeon, Dr. Callum Hay (Veterinary Surgical Specialists), who has done such great work for our greyhounds over the years.
Shown below on the left is Linda (one of our founders) with two greyhounds that have had their broken legs surgically repaired. On the right is Bandit, who had a serious fracture while racing, and was the very first greyhound that Dr. Hay surgically repaired for us. He is shown here playing with his greyhound friend. As you can see, Bandit recovered beautifully and went on to have a great life as a pet. Since that time, we have been able to help many greyhounds who needed surgeries. We cannot thank our foster homes, supporters, volunteers, and especially Dr. Hay enough for helping with this effort.
WE NEED YOUR HELP . . .
We are an all-volunteer organization. Everything we do, and every bit of the money we raise goes to help the greyhounds. We find homes for many greyhounds every year, and when necessary, assist with transport of greyhounds needing pet homes to other adoption groups in non-racing states. We help many greyhounds that have injuries and take in senior greyhounds that need us. We educate the public about greyhounds as pets, and do all that we can to promote new homes for the greyhounds retiring from racing. If you would like to become a part of this important work, we would love to have you join us. It is only through our volunteers and supporters that our work can continue.
Both Volunteer and Foster Home applications are on this website. Please contact us on our phone line 813/272-2332 for the Tampa Bay Area; or 239/549-6806 for the Fort Myers/Cape Coral and Bonita Springs area. Volunteers are vitally important to us, as are foster homes and supporters. We appreciate you all.
We help many greyhounds each year and are always in need of funds to continue our work. Your tax deductible contribution for any amount would be very much appreciated. If you would like to help our cause, you can donate via the Donate button (through Pay Pal) on our home page, or send a check made payable to:
Bay Area Greyhound Adoptions, Inc.
13014 N. Dale Mabry Hwy., #180
Tampa, FL 33618
On behalf of all of us at Bay Area Greyhound Adoptions, and all the greyhounds, we thank you!
