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The greyhound that came for a weekend and stayed seven years

16 June 2022

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By Darren Cartwright

He was the foster greyhound that came for a weekend and stayed seven years to form an inseparable bond with a young wheelchair-bound girl.

Former racing greyhound Raffa will always have a special place in the heart of loving parents David and Caroline Ingerson after he became a companion and comfort pal of their late-daughter Tara.

For seven years he was by Tara’s side.

Either placing his head on her lap, lying at her feet or beside her and he became her ‘health barometer’ until he passed in June last year.

Tara, sadly, passed from with a debilitating illness in February.

“Even though they are big, they are gentle dogs and that’s why Raffa suited us with our daughter because she was wheelchair-bound,” Caroline said.

“He used to come and put his head on her lap or, when she was on the floor, he would lie beside her and there was such a strong bond between them.

“We even knew when things were wrong, by the way he responded to her, and he had really tuned in to her level.”

David and Caroline had never thought for a second, they would want to own a greyhound until Raffa arrived on the scene out of family loyalty.

Their son and his partner had been foster carers for Raffa but found themselves in a spot of bother, so David and Caroline agreed to take him for “one weekend” only.

“He and his girlfriend got another dog, and that meant they had four dogs and the greyhound was being hounded,” David said.

“They asked us to look after him for one weekend and that weekend turned into seven-and-a-half-years”.

David can’t speak highly enough of the breed, despite having owned five dogs, including a fun-loving border collie.

“We’ve had border collies and cattle dogs, and the greyhound is far easier to maintain,” he said.

David and Caroline wanted to replace Raffa with another greyhound last year, but the timing was not right.

Tara became more ill and they were devoting so much of their life to her last few months, with trips to the hospital, it would have been unfair to have rehomed another greyhound, Caroline explained.

That was until April, they adopted RJ, which raced as Are Jay Junior (above, in action) and won 13 of 60 outings, including his first three starts.

“We wanted to replace Raffa when we lost him, but taking care of Tara, we were in and out of the hospital so much, it was not going to be fair on a dog,” she said.

The couple brought RJ (at home, right) back to their Waterford home in April after being matched with him through the Greyhound Adoption Program at Churchable, 65km west of Brisbane.

The facility is part of the Queensland Racing Integrity Commission.

“We missed having the company of a greyhound, and they are very family orientated and very affectionate,” David said.

“So, we went to a couple of GAP events and put a submission in, and they matched RJ with us.

“All we could see when we visited the GAP to meet RJ was one large dog, bouncing around and no other dog was doing this, it was RJ.

“You can work and do things around the house, and he is happy just being by himself and lying down, although when it comes walking, he’s up and about.

“We’ve found walking him very therapeutic.”