Greyhound Adoption
From the racetrack to life as a lounge lizard Dr Harry Cooper discusses his love of greyhounds and his patronage of the Greyhound Adoption Program. Words Dr Harry Cooper IT WOULD be well over 75 years ago that as a very
something you could carry round in the back of a panel
home in Five Dock, a Sydney suburb. Uncle Bert’s
and another, even bred a couple of litters.
small child, I went with my father to his brother’s
house was new to me, and I felt a little lost standing
come in contact with the greyhound industry through
to a two-year-old – furry, black, and brown bundle
race one. So, I bought and trained ‘Ginger Lashes’.
of long legs and tail that knocked me over and then
immediately began to lick my face and hands. Rather than cry at this situation, I started to giggle. The
daughter learned to walk hanging onto the tail of an old, retired
greyhound. His
name was ‘Steve’.” – Dr Harry Cooper
Working as a locum vet in England allowed me to
in the doorway of the loungeroom. Out of nowhere
came this seemingly huge – well it was of course huge
“My youngest
van or a station wagon. So, I bought one, then another,
licking felt good. This was Rosie. She was my uncle’s
retired racing dog, a female, and the first greyhound I
ever met. I guess the name ‘Rosie’ really struck a chord with me, as I went on to give my gorgeous Border Collie the same name.
Looking back at that meeting, I feel it must have
in some way guided my career. After graduating from
Sydney University in 1966, I joined Gladesville Animal Hospital, and became introduced to thoroughbred
veterinary colleagues over there. I thought why not
She was a full sister to two very famous litter mates but had only won three races at a lowly rated track.
To qualify for the top-grade circuits the dog had to record a specified time. It’s a very different setup to
Australia. Training was simple. Every night a walk and a slip over 200 to 300 metres at the local park, a vastly improved diet and getting rid of Hook Worms, was a simple approach. Incidentally I was reliably informed
they didn’t occur in the UK. Well, they did, and to get something that would eliminate them necessitated importing a wormer from the USA!
There was considerable doubt that ‘Ginge’ as
racehorses and greyhounds as patients. It took very
she was known, based on her previous form, could
industry and much as I loved horses, they were hardly
She did it in a breeze, running half a second faster
little time to become involved in the greyhound
56 Pet Industry News | May/Jun/Jul 2022
possibly qualify for the premium track, White City.
