Greyhound rescue in Wales: adopting near Swansea

The count under the short answer is live: every greyhound listed with us within about 25 miles of Swansea, each linked to its rescue on our Swansea greyhound page. Lurchers and greyhound crosses have their own Swansea lurcher page.

Racing. About 8,000 greyhounds retire each year, the Greyhound Trust says, and it finds homes for around half; its breed profile puts the usual retirement age at three to five. The national charity homes them through volunteer branches, with each dog neutered, vaccinated and microchipped and four weeks' free insurance. Greyhound Rescue Wales says it works for a Wales where every greyhound and lurcher has a home.

Lurchers turn up in rescue too. A lurcher, says Dogs Trust, is a sighthound such as a greyhound, whippet or saluki crossed with another breed, so the mix varies from dog to dog: ask the rescue about the individual dog rather than going by the label.

A rescue greyhound comes with its vet work started, and the rescue already knows how it behaves with people and other dogs. Greyhound Rescue Wales's £300 goes towards neutering, a microchip, vaccination and a collar, lead and muzzle, and its post-adoption support team stays on hand once the dog is home.

Buy a puppy and those bills move to you. PDSA puts a large dog's set-up costs, vaccinations and neutering among them, at £560, then at least £116 a month. That comes after the £400 to £3,000 Blue Cross quotes for the puppy.

Teeth come first. In a Royal Veterinary College VetCompass study of 5,419 greyhounds seen by UK vets in 2016, dental disease affected 39.0 per cent, far more than any other problem; overgrown nails affected 11.1 per cent and osteoarthritis 4.6 per cent. The paper links some of this to their racing years. Ask about:

• Teeth and old injuries. What dental work has the rescue's vet done, and does the dog have any track injury or stiffness?
• Other conditions. PDSA lists bloat (a twisted stomach and an emergency), gum disease, progressive retinal atrophy (gradual sight loss), bone cancer and von Willebrand's disease, a bleeding disorder.
• Nerves. Greyhound neuropathy, a nerve disease, has a DNA test that The Royal Kennel Club wants breeders to use.

Greyhound Rescue Wales is frank about cats. Its adoption page says there are never any guarantees about a cat's or rabbit's safety, however uninterested the greyhound seems, that it does its best to judge each dog's interest and advises on introductions, and that a sighthound should always be supervised with small animals and never left alone with them.

With children, it prefers families to talk to it first and says, as a general rule, that children should be over pre-school age. If you work full time it will still consider you, as long as a dog walker or someone else can break up the day. Many Tears won't rehome its ex-breeding dogs where any child is under 5, and asks for a safe, secure garden leading directly off the home for most of its adoptions.

Greyhounds need less exercise than people expect: PDSA suggests about an hour a day in all, so a retired racer can suit a smaller home if those walks happen. Settling takes time: Greyhound Rescue Wales suggests keeping the first couple of weeks calm and building a routine before showing the dog off to friends and family.

On cold or wet winter walks a thin-coated greyhound will want a coat: PDSA says greyhounds need a warm one. Ask the rescue what fence height it needs for the dog, and check your garden before the home check.

Rescue greyhounds are adopted, not sold: you apply, the rescue matches a dog to your home, and you pay its fee. Every greyhound on our Swansea greyhound page comes that way, and most are retired racers.

If you want a puppy, The Royal Kennel Club lists litters on its "Find a puppy" service, and Dogs Trust's breed guides suggest a pre-purchase consultation with a vet to hear about likely conditions and rough costs. If an advert looks like a scam, tell Report Fraud, the service that replaced Action Fraud.