Must Love Dogs

“When I got my first greyhound in 2003, I had been retired for a year, and the Aeneid was fresh in my mind,” says former AP Latin teacher Janet Lockard ’60. “I just had to name the first dog Achates, after Aeneas’s faithful companion, and the second Creusa, after his Trojan wife.”

Continuing the trend are her two current dogs, Nisus (Aeneas’s fastest man) and Ilione (a Trojan princess). While their classical namesakes suffered tragic fates, Lockard is determined that these beautiful animals won’t.

Racetracks dispose of greyhounds once their careers are over—whether that’s due to injury, inability to compete, or reaching the maximum age of 5—and so Lockard volunteers for a nonprofit, Greyhound Friends for Life (GFFL), which rescues them.

Founded in 1991 and completely volunteer-run, GFFL is primarily based in the Northern California/San Francisco Bay area and has placed more than 3,000 greyhounds into forever homes.

“The shared experience of living with and loving these amazing creatures creates a tremendous bond, almost as strong as having gone to Swarthmore,” says Lockard. “I’ve lived alone for a long time, and my dogs are my family. Greyhounds stir my soul and it means everything to me to help save them.” 

+ MAKE A TAIL WAG:

adopt-a-greyhound.org

greyhoundfriendsforlife.org