Greeting greyhounds at Tackapausha

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The Tackapausha Museum and Preserve is home to many four-legged creatures. But local folks recently had the chance to meet some friendly, furry visitors: greyhounds. 

Grateful Greyhounds, a Long Island nonprofit organization, hosted a presentation at the museum, on Washington Avenue in Seaford. The Friends of Tackapausha, a group dedicated to supporting education and preservation efforts at the Nassau County park, sponsored the program. 

According to FOT leaders, Grateful Greyhounds volunteers are dedicated to educating the public about ex-racing greyhounds and sighthounds, as well as placing them into suitable and loving homes. Lisa Sallie, who remains active and on the organization’s board to this day, founded the group in 1998. 

Sallie presented a slideshow with information about the Grateful Greyhounds rescue and adoption efforts. Several greyhound owners also answered questions about the breed’s unique personality traits, training and socialization, medical concerns and exercise needs. 

Lorraine Bondi-Goldsmith, the FOT president, adopted a dog through GG years ago, according to Peter Ruffner, who also sits on the FOT board. “Greyhounds are graceful, affectionate and gentle animals that make wonderful additions to any family,” Bondi-Goldsmith said. 

Ruffner, a lifelong Seaford resident, said he was impressed by how affectionate and well behaved the greyhounds were at the event. He commended GG for their extensive rescue efforts, noting that the organization brings in dogs from everywhere from Virginia to Kansas to Spain. 

Noting that FOT aims to teach people about the environment, Ruffner said that, “on a macro level,” the organization and GG have a lot in common. “We are interested in the environment and everything inside of it — and that would include animals,” he said. 

The FOT is also interested in education, and Ruffner said the GG event was one of the many informative and hands-on programs that the group will sponsor this spring and summer. The board plans to invite bird experts to the museum to teach people from Seaford, Wantagh and other communities surrounding the preserve about the creatures who frequent the area. 

For more information about the FOT, visit www.friendsoftackapausha.org or the group’s Facebook page, called “Friends of Tackapausha, Inc.” Supporters and board members hail from Seaford, Massapequa, Bellmore, Bethpage, Plainview and more. 

To learn more about Grateful Greyhounds, call (516) 735-5070 or visit www.gratefulgreys.com. For additional information about the program or specific directions, call the museum at (516) 571-7443.