Anytime: Survivor, not a racer
We’ll probably never know whether the accident has anything to do with Anytime’s troubles.
She’s shy, sure. And she didn’t do so hot when it came time to race the other greyhounds at Kenosha, Wis. But without getting inside her furry little head, it’s tough to say whether that awful wreck is what ruined her for racing.
If Anytime’s name doesn’t ring a bell, the accident will:
In the early morning hours of Jan. 11, an Ohio truck driver named Frank Evans lost control of his pickup near the Division Street overpass on Interstate 80 in Davenport. He was hauling a trailer that carried 30 greyhounds from a training track in Oklahoma to the racetrack in Kenosha.
Evans, 62, died instantly in the crash. His two teenage passengers, including a grandson, escaped injury. Seven of the greyhounds escaped the trailer when it rolled on its top.
Three of the dogs were hit and killed on the interstate, and four others took off. All the others survived inside the rig.
As strange coincidences go, the accident happened less than 10 miles from the region’s only greyhound adoption center, which is just off the interstate in little Maysville, Iowa.
Folks from the Quad-City Greyhound Adoption Center, led by the late Tom Ryan, sprang into action. Volunteers from the center joined other regular folks from the area in a massive search for the missing greys.
Within 12 hours of the wreck, three of the dogs were found. Anytime, however, remained on the lam for a solid 33 hours. During the final three hours of her frightened freedom, Anytime was one wanted dog.
Volunteers, animal control officers — even the cops — chased her and chased her. Just when they thought they had her, Anytime slipped away.
Davenport Police Capt. David Struckman spent several frustrating hours hounding Anytime. Even though he saw what the athletic animal could do, he wasn’t particularly surprised to hear that she failed on the racetrack.
“You have to understand: That dog was put through a lot of trauma,” he said. “The endurance of that dog was tremendous. When we were chasing her out at the airport, our squads were doing 50 mph, and she looked like she was barely working.”
In fact, a good speed for a racing greyhound is 45 mph, which is why lovers of the breed call them 45-mile-per-hour couch potatoes.
And now Anytime deserves to be a couch potato. She and two of the other dogs from the wreck are back in Maysville, having flunked out in racing. The trio is among 48 homeless greys awaiting adoption.
But here’s what I don’t get: Whenever our local animal shelters share a story of heartbreak — some poor animal that was tossed out a car window or shot in the eyes or dumped in the river — a bunch of people step forward to adopt them.
Hard-luck stories seem to breed sympathy and action.
But nobody’s come forward for Anytime.
I’ve got a hunch about why so many of her breed aren’t being snatched up. It’s those tired old myths about greyhounds being too much trouble to make good pets.
Nonsense!
Jennifer Franklin, a co-chair at the adoption center, countered the myths with her own first-hand experience.
On the matter of the large dogs needing lots of space: “They just crawl into a ball. I have three of my own and three foster greys. We’re all happy in my 1,300-square-foot house.”
Greyhounds will run away from you, never to be found again: “I walk all six of mine at the same time.”
The dogs don’t do well around other animals: “Actually, my cats beat up on the dogs. The cats will give them a smack on the nose and then run.”
See? No self-respecting cat would purposely place itself in peril — Anytime.
Barb Ickes can be contacted at (563) 383-2316 or bickes@qctimes.com.