Moose the greyhound is tall and broad with big slabs for shoulders that give the misleading impression that he is tough. He is allegedly more dog-like than most greyhounds, because he is interested in balls and sticks.
His adopted brother, Milton, is a more typical greyhound. He is interested in positive affirmation and naps.
Moose is also very interested in receiving scratches, so it is convenient that Thursday’s outing to the Greyhound Adoption Program (Gap) cafe in Melbourne has provided so many humans willing to oblige.
The cafe opened on King Street, near Flagstaff Gardens, on Wednesday and is still being fitted with the finishing touches.
Tradesmen walk around Moose as he lies on the floor. His people, Natasha Luscri and Luke Miller, brought their dogs along because greyhounds are often too big to go to a regular cafe without tripping up the wait staff.
They adopted four-year-old Moose a year ago and got three-year-old Milton, named after their “favourite economist”, a few months later.
“Originally we wanted a French bulldog but they were so expensive and we wanted to get a rescue [dog], we didn’t want to support a puppy farm,” Luscri says.
Most of the customers already own a greyhound and have stopped by to see if there are any new dogs to pat and share stories about their own. A few are looking to adopt. Luscri answers their questions while Moose and Milton sidle up for pats.
She and Miller are not volunteers for Gap, but they’re happy to help. In the world of greyhound rescue, every owner is an advocate for the cause; every dog an ambassador.
Bec Michael is looking to adopt. She says she was scared of greyhounds as a child because they wore cage muzzles, which is a legal requirement in many states.
Milton, who is leaning against Michael’s legs, wears a thick green collar indicating it has been assessed as safe and does not need to wear a muzzle. All greyhounds adopted through Gap are collar-tested.
“I was always terrified of greyhounds,” Michael says. “They are not what I thought they were.”
Michael says it is “very helpful” to be able to talk to greyhound owners about what the dogs are like as pets.
The adoption program is run through Greyhound Racing Victoria. It rehomed 1,314 dogs in 2016-17. About 1,400 Victorian greyhounds were adopted through other programs. In the same period, 1,429 dogs — 54% fewer than the previous year — were euthanised.
The GRV chief executive, Alan Clayton, said the cafe will serve the dual purpose of introducing people to greyhounds and introducing foster greyhounds, who often have had minimal human contact in their racing lives and take some time to adjust to life as pets, to a broad range of humans.
Adoption pamphlets are scattered on the tables and tablets are provided to allow cafe patrons to scroll Gap dogs currently available for adoption. The pamphlets say the dogs are “quiet, lazy and gentle” and make “fantastic pets”.
The growing popularity of rescued greyhounds as pets over the past two years has coincided with reports of systemic animal cruelty in the greyhound racing industry and a live-baiting scandal.
In 2016, the New South Wales Coalition government announced it would ban the sport, but swiftly went back on that decision under pressure from the National party.
According to figures obtained by the NSW Greens, the rate of unnecessary greyhound deaths in the months immediately following the ban’s repeal was higher than the 12 months before.
The Victorian racing minister, Martin Pakula, who officially opened the cafe, said he hoped to get to a point where all greyhounds raced in Victoria were adopted. The cafe is part of that plan.
“It’s a great, pet-friendly space close to town where people can come down, have a coffee, meet a dog and hopefully adopt one,” he said.
